Environmental Discourses in Science Education

Arthur J. Stewart
Michael P. Mueller
Deborah J. Tippins  Editors

Converting STEM
into STEAM
Programs
Methods and Examples from and
for Education

123
Environmental Discourses in Science Education

Volume 5

Series Editors
Michael P. Mueller, Eagle River, AK, USA
Deborah J. Tippins, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

Editorial Board
Caren Cooper, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA
Mariona Espinet, Univ Autònoma de Barcelona, Fac de, Cerdanyola del Vallès,
Barcelona, Spain
David Greenwood, Lakehead University, Faculty of Education, Gorham,
ON, Canada
Elizabeth McKinley, Melbourne Grad Sch of Educ, Lvl 5, University of
Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Clayton Pierce, Western Washington University, Bellingham, USA
Maria S. Rivera Maulucci, 336B Milbank Hall, Barnard College, New York,
NY, USA
Giuliano Reis, Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Arthur J. Stewart, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
More information about this series at [Link]
Arthur J. Stewart  •  Michael P. Mueller
Deborah J. Tippins
Editors

Converting STEM
into STEAM Programs
Methods and Examples from
and for Education
Editors
Arthur J. Stewart (Retired) Michael P. Mueller
Oak Ridge Associated Universities University of Alaska Anchorage
Oak Ridge, TN, USA Anchorage, AK, USA

Deborah J. Tippins
University of Georgia
Athens, GA, USA

ISSN 2352-7307     ISSN 2352-7315 (electronic)

Environmental Discourses in Science Education
ISBN 978-3-030-25100-0    ISBN 978-3-030-25101-7 (eBook)
[Link]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019

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Prologue

When the Soviet Union successfully launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik I,
in October 1957, things changed: that event started the space age and triggered a
space race. Not long thereafter, multiple education initiatives in the USA began
emphasizing disciplines related to Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics (STEM). As one might expect, the emerging emphasis on STEM edu-
cation manifested differently in different countries, and differently among agencies
within countries, and within the USA, differently from state to state.
As changes occurred in STEM-related science education, science education
research began changing, too. STEM education investigators began conducting
studies and publishing papers on various aspects of STEM education. The number
of STEM education-related papers published annually has increased substantially
since 1990 (Fig. 1).
Of course, ideas about science education  – philosophy, objectives, research
methods, and the like – all change with time, too. So even as teaching began focus-
ing more on STEM-related disciplines, with a rationale of educating students for
future jobs in a technologically complex world (see, e.g., [Link]
[Link]/parents/why-stem-is-important-to-everyone), some education practitio-
ners and investigators began questioning the emphasis on STEM. Perhaps (some
discussion went), the focus on STEM was too narrow and too exclusive. Perhaps
(other discussion went), STEM should be made more accessible to students who
were marginalized by factors such as race, gender, or interests; and perhaps (some
discussion went), STEM-focused students were at risk of losing touch with knowl-
edge outside of STEM.
Education practitioners in non-STEM disciplines took some exception to the
growing focus on STEM, because such focus could depreciate or marginalize teach-
ing Arts or other non-STEM courses. The Arts (so the discussion went) are worthy
of teaching on their own merits: the Arts do not need to be introduced with STEM
disciplines, because they are sufficiently self-worthy even when taught alone.
Now, truth is, the business of splitting seems to be fundamental to human nature.
Our sensory systems are very good at discriminating among inputs – sounds, colors,
motion, odors, heat, or cold. Based on these sensory inputs, we classify, we

v
vi Prologue

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0
1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020

Fig. 1  Number of papers published annually (Y-axis), from 1990 through 2017 (X-axis), dealing
with STEM education. Data are from a search on topic, keywords “STEM education,” conducted
using the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s version of Web of Science (Reuters) on February 5,
2018

d­ iscriminate, and we sort things out, moment by moment, this from that. We pose
unstated questions about differences we detect, and we seek explanations based on
causality, consciously or subconsciously, so as to better predict what might happen
next. These abilities have survival value. They also fundamentally establish the
roots of science. Instant by instant, we push sensory inputs into packets, arrange the
packets, and rearrange them again, in association with inputs from other sensory
structures: sounds with motion, estimates of size with estimates of speed, and odors
with visual data and auditory data (are the burgers on the grill done yet?). Then, we
compare the results of such efforts to our prior experience to make sense of the
world. These constant artistic and individual creative fusions of sensory data allow
interpretive assessments of conditions and things in our environments. By nature,
we are all deep in the business splitting, just as we are all deep in the business of
putting together. The matter largely devolves to what and how finely we split and
how we go about putting the pieces back together.
Long ago, the Greeks considered the Arts and the Sciences to be the same thing.
As science was formalized, the process of science was deliberately rendered “stand-
offish,” because the idea then was that science should be objective: different view-
points, if tolerated at all, were to be constrained narrowly to data-driven
interpretations, with minor speculation sometimes permitted near the end of the
discussion section. An entire scientific language developed, focusing on details –
passive voice, past tense, sentences built often on Germanic structure, with long,
gnarly sentences and not infrequently with the verb, like this, near the end of the
sentence hanging. That’s all part of our STEM heritage (cf. Bohm 1998).
Prologue vii

So, on first blush, the current trend of incorporating the Arts into STEM teaching,
thereby establishing STEAM programs, is merely a return to an earlier state – an arc
and a swoop from here towards where we were. The chief difference is that now, we
know a lot more about the bits and pieces of things that go into STEM and the Arts,
and we know a lot more now about what works, and what does not work so well, in
terms of education effectiveness and educational policies. We have a lot more data,
and we have much better access to these data. We have a deeper and broader context
for analyzing and understanding these data, so we can establish more effective path-
ways for making changes in how we teach, and we can develop stronger and more
effective arguments for why policies should or should not be changed for better
educational outcomes.
Many chapters in this book testify to some of these ideas. Some of these chapters
advance the idea that STEAM helps students become more creative or become bet-
ter at problem-solving, for example. We appreciate such arguments. But to be fair,
we should mention several other points that we should not forget about as we again
start constructing and trundling out new teaching methods and revise curricula to be
more inclusive. Let’s start with the idea that an important education objective – and
one reason for converting towards STEAM education – is that of helping students
develop better problem-solving skills. Well and good. This seems like a worthy
objective. But why wait to start this effort until after children are in school?
A study by Leonard et  al. (2017) reports this: “…adult models causally affect
infants’ persistence and that infants can generalize the value of persistence to novel
tasks.” Let’s restate this important idea. Leonard et al.’s (2017) study shows that adults
can model persistence and effort in solving problems and that infants who watch these
adults do these things learn value in time and effort spent in problem-­solving. They –
the infants – then apply these behaviors (i.e., they spend more time and effort) to new
problems they encounter. So, this is a strong point supporting Michael Roth’s chapter
on the value of lifelong learning but on the younger side of the age spectrum! One
take-home message here could be this: teachers, don’t make things too easy for your
students. Rather, show how, with work and perseverance, you can solve the thing.
Solving wicked problems will require lots of perseverance in addition to creative
problem-solving skills. STEAM alone might not be enough to save us. Modeling
effort that leads to success – even incremental success – might help.
But what about this? Other studies show that infants are, in part, hardwired to
understand certain basic aspects of cause and effect. Experiments by Waismeyer
et al. (2015), for example, show that toddlers can learn about cause and effect with-
out trial-and-error or linguistic instruction, simply by observing the probabilistic
patterns of evidence resulting from the imperfect actions of other social agents.
Furthermore, Gopnik (2012) notes that “preschoolers test hypotheses against data
and make causal inferences; they learn from statistics and informal experimenta-
tion, and from watching and listening to others. … (these discoveries) suggest both
that early childhood experience is extremely important and that the trend toward
more structured and academic early childhood programs is misguided.” Such argu-
ments suggest early development of critical thinking and creative problem-solving
viii Prologue

skills and that early intervention expanding this ability might pay big dividends.
Similarly, early-grade intensive intervention programs show long-term education
outcome benefits (c.f., Reynolds et al. 2018). Jaschke et al. (2018) report a positive
effect of long-term music education on cognitive abilities, such as inhibition and
planning, and a positive effect of visual arts education on a visuospatial memory
task. So once again, let’s consider how, and when, we might most advantageously
teach STEAM, or STEM, and how to go about it. We need more creative, passionate
scientists with cross-disciplinary interests and expertise if we’re to solve the wicked
problems that now plague us.
Later deployment of STEAM alone might be helpful, but the benefits of this
approach may be smaller. Or perhaps, the benefits of later interventions are large,
relative to the way we generally teach now. Or perhaps, STEM is better than
STEAM, or perhaps, starting STEAM earlier is much better than if started much
later. The point here is that there’s a great deal about optimally implementing
STEAM that we don’t know yet – and yet, even as we puzzle on it, we’re still going
forward. That’s why this book is so timely and important.
The authors of the 18 chapters offered here offer multiple perspectives on
STEAM at various functional, educational, and spatial scales. They provide ideas,
data, and contextual information and recommendations about STEAM efforts, rang-
ing from elementary/middle school-level STEAM education through high school
and into the university level and beyond. Spatially, the chapter authors address
STEAM education considerations relevant to single teachers in individual schools,
through the school system level, to whole-country level STEAM implementation
efforts (cf. Jeong et al., Chap. 16). Also varying, by intent, are different philosophi-
cal perspectives among chapter authors: What should we be doing with respect to
STEAM, and why? The chapters offer, too, a satisfying range of nuts-and-bolts
information for policy-makers, superintendents, and prospective teacher-­
implementers as they contemplate injecting STEAM ideas into STEM education or
develop new ways to make STEAM work.
But things always take on deeper meaning with deeper context, and we want to
keep pushing our knowledge forward and to use the best possible evidence for mak-
ing good decisions as we learn more about STEAM. So, let’s take a moment here to
consider how our understandings of STEM education, STEM education research,
and STEAM education relate to one another.
One way to consider these three things is to plot the number of papers published
annually for topic searches conducted on each of the three terms. We did this, for
searches conducted on February 2, 2018, using Web of Science (University of
Tennessee’s subscription), with the following search parameters: years, 1990–2017,
and search terms (topic), enclosed in quotes to ensure exact phrase. The three search
terms were “STEM education,” “STEM education research,” and “STEAM educa-
tion” (Fig. 2). Specifying exact search parameters is important because various sub-
scriptions are available for accessing the Web of Science system and because the
Web of Science core collection can change later if new journals are added.
Prologue ix

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0
1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020

Fig. 2  Y-axis, number of papers published per year; upper curve (triangles), Web of Science
(WoS) search term; topic, “STEM education.” Middle curve (solid circles), number of papers pub-
lished per year (X-axis, years) for WoS search term; topic, “STEM education research.” Lower
curve (open circles), number of papers published per year for WoS search term; topic, “STEAM
education”

As one might guess, research on STEM education lags STEM education papers
by about 3–5 years – approximately the life-span of typical grant. The number of
papers published annually on STEAM education currently appears to lag STEM
education research by 7 or 8 years (based on 50 publications per year as a compari-
son point). We might then anticipate that publications classified as focusing on
STEAM education will begin increasing rapidly within the next 2–3 years, and they
should then continue to increase rapidly thereafter for about a decade more, presum-
ing similarity with the historical increases in number of publication per year in the
STEM education and STEM education research categories. So, STEAM investiga-
tors, some advice: buckle your seatbelts and begin drafting your proposals.
The chapters in this book set the stage for multiple excellent opportunities for
future STEAM education researchers. For example, several chapters describe poten-
tially effective STEAM interventions and describe outcomes of such interventions,
whereas other chapters describe rigorous reasonable assessment pathways, largely
unencumbered with data. STEAM research clearly could benefit from uniting these
two aspects, because in the world of STEAM, we have more anecdotal information
than we have compelling, evidence-based data on what actually works best.
The chapters in this book also offer clear guidance for STEM- or STEAM-
related policy-makers. Problem-based learning (PBL) methods (see Chaps. 6 and 7,
by Ubben) are identified by the authors of several of the chapters as the preferred
x Prologue

platform for implementing STEAM. Yet many teachers lack experience in design-

ing or operating PBL lesson plans. So at the policy level, effective teacher training
opportunities specifically targeting PBL methods could be especially valuable in
school systems that are considering converting to STEAM programs.
Furthermore, the chapters in this book offer strong material for those who work
with science education theory and philosophy. Different forms of the Arts – visual,
music, poetry, dance  – can be infused into conventional STEM-style teaching in
various ways. And in fact, the Arts and the Sciences were originally taught together.
But philosophy begets theory, and theory permits rationally designed frameworks
for best incorporating Arts and for rationally studying and assessing STEAM effec-
tiveness and for rationally supporting policies needed to drive educational reform.
Policy-makers, teachers, and science educators spent decades of hard work in care-
fully separating the Arts and the so-called STEM disciplines to advance science and
technology. Now, we need to think hard about why and how to put the two areas
together again. This book is an early attempt at providing resources for such task.
Many others, we expect, will follow.

Oak Ridge Associated Universities Arthur J. Stewart

Oak Ridge, TN, USA
University of Alaska Anchorage, College of Education Michael P. Mueller
Anchorage, AK, USA 
University of Georgia Deborah J. Tippins
Athens, GA, USA 

References

Bohm, D. (1998). On creativity (L. Nichol, Ed.). London: Routledge, 125 p.

Gopnik, A. (2012). Scientific thinking in young children: theoretical advances, empirical research,
and policy implications. Science, 337(6102), 1623–1627.
Jaschke, A. C., Honing, H., & Scherder, E. J. A. (2018). Longitudinal analysis of music education
on executive functions in primary school children. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 12, Article 103,
11 p.
Leonard, J. A., Lee, Y., & Schulz, L. E. (2017). Infants make more attempts to achieve a goal when
they see adults persist. Science, 357(6357), 1290–1294.
Reynolds, A. J., Ou, S. R., & Temple, J.A. (2018). A multicomponent, preschool to third grade
preventive intervention and educational attainment at 35 years of age. JAMA Pediatrics https://
[Link]/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2017.4673. Published online January 29, 2018.
Waismeyer, A., Meltzoff, A. N., & Gopnik, A. (2015). Causal learning from probabilistic events in
24-month-olds: An action measure. Developmental Science, 18(1), 175–182.
Book Abstract

For centuries, education usually incorporated aspects of the Arts and the Sciences
into a single cohesive education framework. Some separation of these two disci-
pline areas began in the 1950s with the onset of the space race, which was triggered
by Sputnik I.  And now, 50–60  years after Sputnik, there’s an emerging effort to
reblend the Arts and the Sciences. We refer to the results of these latter efforts as
STEM-to-STEAM conversions: that is, some educators now are beginning to add
the Arts back into educational programs focusing on Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics or beginning to infuse science content into the Arts.
The authors of this book provide a diverse medley of views on the nature of these
efforts at various spatial scales. The STEM-to-STEAM information provided by
these authors runs the gamut from workshop room and classroom scale efforts to
whole school efforts, to school district efforts, to whole country efforts. The authors
offer tools, perspectives, examples of methods, and STEM-to-STEAM conversion
results data to help readers understand this fascinating science education trend.
The range of information provided by the authors of this book is not just broad
with respect to scale. The information also provides readers with diverse windows
into philosophical rationales associated with the efforts to push education from
STEM to STEAM. Changing from one educational strategy to another at a whole
school, school district, or whole country scale requires considerable effort by many
people, exerted over years. This book is among the first to attempt to capture a
significant change-in-scope educational thrust early in change history. So yes: it
will be heterogeneous and incomplete. But it also will be interesting, and we think
it will offer many readers a multitude of new ideas, which hopefully will motivate
teachers, policy-makers, and educational program directors to begin devising and

xi
xii Book Abstract

encouraging new and more effective ways to teach science. We need broader-
thinking, courageous, highly interdisciplinary students – many of them! – if we’re
to solve the multiplicity of “wicked problems” we now face.

Oak Ridge Associated Universities Arthur J. Stewart,

Oak Ridge, TN, USA
University of Alaska Anchorage, College of Education  Michael P. Mueller,
Anchorage, AK, USA
University of Georgia  Deborah J. Tippins,
Athens, GA, USA
Contents

From STEM to STEAM: How Can Educators Meet the Challenge? ��������    1
Mariale M. Hardiman and Ranjini M. JohnBull
The Importance of Integrating the Arts into STEM Curriculum ��������������   11
Michelle Land
Purposeful Pursuits: Leveraging the Epistemic Practices
of the Arts and Sciences����������������������������������������������������������������������������������   21
Bronwyn Bevan, Kylie Peppler, Mark Rosin, Lynn Scarff,
Elisabeth Soep, and Jen Wong
Investigating the Complexity of Developing STEAM
Curricula for K-8 Students ����������������������������������������������������������������������������   39
Danielle Herro and Cassie Quigley
We Need More (than) STEAM: Let’s Go for Life-Wide
and Lifelong Education ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������   55
Wolff-Michael Roth
Using Project-Based Learning to Teach STEAM������������������������������������������   67
Gary Ubben
How to Structure Project-Based Learning
to Meet STEAM Objectives����������������������������������������������������������������������������   85
Gary Ubben
Enhancing STEAM Education Through Cultivating
Students’ Savoring Capacity��������������������������������������������������������������������������  101
Shu-Hsuan Chang, Li-Chih Yu, Jing-Chuan Lee, and Chih-Lien Wang
Science, Youth, and Integration: The Quest for Mindfulness
Through Birding����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  117
Erin A. Ingle and Mike Mueller

xiii
xiv Contents

The Role of STEAM in a Sustainable World������������������������������������������������  133

Shushman Choudhury, Sohn Cook, and Brittany Bennett
Transgressing the Disciplines Using Science as a Meeting Place:
The Science, Art and Writing Initiative ��������������������������������������������������������  149
Anne Osbourn
Artistic Ways of Knowing: Thinking Like an Artist
in the STEAM Classroom�������������������������������������������������������������������������������  169
Joanne Haroutounian
Putting the STEAM in the River: Potential Transformative
Roles of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics
in School District Culture, Organization, Systems,
and Learning Environments ��������������������������������������������������������������������������  185
John Puglisi and Beth V. Yeager
Emerging Scenarios to Enhance Creativity in Smart Cities
Through STEAM Education and the Gradual Immersion Method ����������  203
Jorge Sanabria-Z and Margarida Romero
Applying Gradual Immersion Method to Chemistry:
Identification of Chemical Bonds ������������������������������������������������������������������  225
Guillermo Pech, Jorge Sanabria-Z, and Margarida Romero
From Conceptualization to Implementation:
STEAM Education in Korea��������������������������������������������������������������������������  241
Sophia (Sun Kyung) Jeong, Hyoungbum Kim, and Deborah J. Tippins
Emphasizing Transdisciplinary Prowess
in the Evaluation of STEAM Programs��������������������������������������������������������  259
Kimberle Kelly and Erin Burr
STEM Education and the Theft of Futures of Our Youth:
Some Questions and Challenges for Educators��������������������������������������������  285
Sophia (Sun Kyung) Jeong, Deborah J. Tippins, Kimberly Haverkos,
Mel Kutner, Shakhnoza Kayumova, and Stacey Britton
About the Editors

Arthur J. Stewart  of Lenoir City, Tennessee, is a sci-

entist, science educator, and poet. He earned his Ph.D.
at Michigan State University in Aquatic Ecology and
worked at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge
National Laboratory for 17  years as an ecologist and
ecotoxicologist before becoming a science education
project manager for Oak Ridge Associated Universities.
In addition to publishing over a hundred scientific arti-
cles, book chapters, and technical reports, his science-
inspired poetry has been published in many literary
magazines and in more than a dozen anthologies.

Michael P. Mueller  is a professor of secondary educa-

tion with expertise in environmental and science educa-
tion in the College of Education at the University of
Alaska Anchorage. His philosophy now focuses on how
privileged cultural thinking frames our relationships
with others, including nonhuman species and physical
environments. He works with teachers to understand
the significance of cultural diversity, biodiversity, and
nature’s harmony. He is the coeditor in chief of Cultural
Studies of Science Education.

xv
xvi About the Editors

Deborah  J.  Tippins  is currently a professor in the

Department of Mathematics and Science Education at
the University of Georgia. Her scholarly work focuses
on encouraging meaningful discourses around environ-
mental justice and sociocultural issues in science
education.
From STEM to STEAM: How Can
Educators Meet the Challenge?

Mariale M. Hardiman and Ranjini M. JohnBull

1  Introduction

The global competitiveness for a workforce capable of innovation and creative

problem-solving takes us back to the late 1960s, with the launch of the Russian
satellite Sputnik, and it leads us now to focus on STEAM—the integration of the
arts into the study of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
The journey of integrating the creative forces of the arts with scientific inquiry
began with a national spirit that was more than just a race to space. The wake-up call
that Sputnik triggered led to an urgent focus on preparing a pipeline of innovative
thinkers able to propel our nation to greatness in technological advances and inno-
vations across all sectors of industry and intellectual endeavors. The answer coming
from policy-makers at that time was to reform our education system by focusing on
a “back to basics” approach by setting standards for teaching core subjects, and
holding elementary and secondary schools accountable for student performance.
Years later, the 1980s’ publication of A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for
Educational Reform (National Commission on Excellence in Education 1983)
moved school reform to a heightened level, by focusing public discourse on com-
parisons of international test scores of US students with those of other countries.
The weak performance of US students compared with those of other countries cre-
ated fear that our nation will lose economic strength. The fear propelled a renewed
call for reforming of our nation’s education systems.
The conflict still wages. Indeed, the achievement gap between US and foreign
students on international tests such as the Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA)—an assessment focused on higher-order thinking skills in
mathematics and science—places the performance of our nation’s students 31st

M. M. Hardiman (*) · R. M. JohnBull

School of Education, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
e-mail: mmhardiman@[Link]; Rmjohnbull@[Link]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 1

A. J. Stewart et al. (eds.), Converting STEM into STEAM Programs,
Environmental Discourses in Science Education 5,
[Link]
2 M. M. Hardiman and R. M. JohnBull

among 35 industrialized nations in mathematics, and near the middle of the pack in
science (Barshay 2016). Scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress
(NAEP) have been largely flat over time. In response, federal legislation, including
the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act and now the Every Student Succeeds Act, accel-
erated the focus on standards in English/language arts and mathematics as well as
high- stakes accountability metrics for schools (National Assessment of Educational
Progress 2015).
Enacted federal legislation and work by national and state entities resulted in sev-
eral clear shifts in educational practices and policies over the last two decades. First,
a well-documented “narrowing of the curriculum” effort was implemented to make
more room in the school day for tested subjects. This effort often resulted in schools
eliminating or reducing nontested subjects. Schools with tight budgets were particu-
larly affected, and a disproportionate share of those schools service children in low-
income communities. Walker (2014) found that 81% of elementary teachers reported
that time devoted to mathematics and language arts instruction resulted in less time
for other subjects. Among the nontested subjects that lost instructional time in
schools, the arts, in particular, suffered significantly (Mishook and Kornhaber 2006).
In 2010, the US Department of Education reported that 40% of high schools did not
require any coursework in the arts for graduation (Bryant 2015, April 27). A national
survey conducted in 2011 revealed that half of all teachers reported that art and music
classes were being eliminated in their schools (Walker 2014, September 2).
At the same time, another significant change in education policies and practices
focused on industries’ need to employ workers with highly refined skills in STEM
disciplines. This change brought to light the critical shortage of workers in STEM
fields and suggested a need for schools to build a pipeline of students pursuing
STEM careers. Thus, while the arts were taking a back seat in school curricula,
relegated to the category of “fringe subjects,” STEM-centric initiatives
proliferated.
After Sputnik, Presidents D. W. Eisenhower and J. F. Kennedy directed the coun-
try’s focus to the sciences and technology by establishing the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA), and this attention on the sciences and technol-
ogy continued over the next several decades (Marick Group 2016). The term STEM
was first established in the 1990s by the National Science Foundation, as the
National Science Education Standards were launched and curriculum began reflect-
ing the country’s STEM focus more strongly.
In 2005, STEM began to draw greater attention in education policy and reform
when an alarming report from the US National Academies of Science, Engineering,
and Medicine showed that the USA was falling behind other countries with respect
to mathematics and science preparedness. In 2009, President B.  H. Obama
announced the Educate to Innovate initiative with the goal of moving US students
to the top of the pack in science and mathematics achievement over the subsequent
10 years (Marick Group 2016). This initiative included increasing federal invest-
ment in STEM and preparing 100,000 new STEM teachers by 2021. However,
despite these initiatives, the USA is still lagging behind other developed countries
and is not producing enough STEM-proficient workers to meet market demands
(American Youth Policy Forum 2012).
From STEM to STEAM: How Can Educators Meet the Challenge? 3

2  STEM to STEAM

As schools focused on how to increase the number of students entering the STEM
pipeline, many arts advocates pointed to a growing body of research that showed the
power of the arts to influence broad domains of learning. While many agree that the
arts are important “for their own sake,” strong evidence also suggests that arts can
improve learning in other disciplines and help to engage students in subject matter
more efficiently than traditional instructional techniques. The arts, when used as a
pedagogical tool for teaching non-arts subjects—known as arts integration—show
promise for learning and retaining academic content, transferring knowledge to
other domains of learning, and developing creative thinking and problem-solving
skills. For example, Burnaford et al. (2007) describe arts integration as a way of
promoting the transfer of knowledge and skills from arts to non-arts domains by
helping students draw connections among different disciplines. Anderson (2015)
found, through qualitative analyses, that integrating dance arts into mathematics
lessons for students with disabilities, over 1 month periods, improved mathematics
achievement, dance arts skills, and social emotional learning. Additionally, Scripp
and Gilbert (2016) developed a “multiple literacy” tool to assess shared skills
between music, literacy, mathematics, and the arts after engaging in arts-integrated
lessons. Their findings (op. cit.) indicated that arts literacies, mathematics and read-
ing learning, and achievement all increased over time and that these gains were
statistically greater than for students in control schools, where arts-integrated les-
sons did not occur. Further, Scripp and Gilbert (2016) found greater levels of arts
skills, competencies, and insights versus the control schools.
A recent quasi-experimental study by Teske and Pittman (2017) explored the
effects of arts-integrated learning on memory for science content within a middle
school in Iowa. This study took place over a 4-day period in 1 week, and included
two lessons in which students explored the form and function of modern or fossil
organisms in both arts-integrated and conventional teaching conditions. Six course
sections included 128 students who engaged in one lesson via arts-integrated
instruction; the second lesson occurred through conventional science instruction.
Content-based assessments were then applied: the investigators reviewed the
responses students constructed to questions, and analyzed student drawings to eval-
uate memory for content. Post-test results for the two groups of students did not
differ statistically, but the delayed post-test results indicated large effects and a sta-
tistically significant gain in learning for students who had the arts-integrated les-
sons. These findings affirm Hardiman et  al.’s (2014, 2019) findings, that
arts-integrated science instruction benefits long-term memory for science content.
Csikszentmihalyi (1997) described the importance of the arts in cognition by
underscoring the emotional responses that the arts can produce, constructing novel
ways of thinking that “…break through the gray affectless daily routines and expand
the range of what it means to be alive” (p. 36). He reports how the arts can engender
a state of deep concentration that leads to the “aha” of creative thinking.
4 M. M. Hardiman and R. M. JohnBull

Adding the arts to STEM subjects may be essential to students effectively learn-
ing the critical twenty-first-century skills important to the workforce of today. No
longer is knowledge of a content area alone enough. According to the Partnership
for Twenty-First Century Skills, “many of the fastest-growing jobs and emerging
industries rely on workers’ creative capacity—the ability to think unconventionally,
question the herd, imagine new scenarios and produce astonishing work” (2008,
p.10). A workforce capable of creative and collaborative problem-solving requires
techniques not necessarily supported by conventional teaching. The arts may serve
as a springboard for imbuing traditionally taught STEM subjects with the types of
creative thinking that encourages innovation.
Recent research seems to support this view. For example, Kong et al. (2014) and
Kong and Huo (2014) found that infusing STEAM activities into elementary schools
resulted in statistically significant increases in positive attitudes toward science edu-
cation, higher levels of self-efficacy for STEAM subjects, and increased interest in
scientific learning. Similarly, Lim et  al. (2015) found that design-based STEAM
programs for 5th- and 6th-grade students resulted in a statistically significant
increase in students’ awareness about careers in biotechnology and medical engi-
neering. Another study investigated the effects of STEAM approaches to teaching
computing coding and programming (Yee-King et al. 2017): in this study, students
who learned programming through an arts-integrated approach earned higher grades
and developed more sophisticated programming skills, compared to students who
learned programming in conventional classes. Oner et al. (2016) found that middle
and high school students who engaged in STEAM-project-based lessons believed
that they used their creativity within the instructional activities: this result indicates
an increase in self-efficacy for these subjects. Similarly, Rule et al. (2016) explored
the effects of a project on creating dioramas of the lives of successful women math-
ematicians. Qualitative analyses of 24 5th-grade girls indicated that students were
more motivated, had higher levels of creativity, and increased arts and cognitive
skills. Taken together, such studies suggest that arts-integrated learning within
STEM not only improves academic achievement: it also affects attitudes toward
STEM careers, interest in these subjects, and awareness of STEM-related career
trajectories.

3  Proving Some Causal Connections: Science via the Arts

While research on the effectiveness of arts integration in general, and within STEM
subjects in particular, is encouraging, most studies are correlational and do not
claim causal connections. To add to the body of research on the potential effective-
ness of STEAM and to begin providing evidence for causation, our research team at
the Johns Hopkins University School of Education conducted pilot randomized
control trials to test the effectiveness of science units taught through traditional
STEM approach compared with STEAM units that incorporated various arts-based
activities.
From STEM to STEAM: How Can Educators Meet the Challenge? 5

We developed science units for 5th-grade students in astronomy and ecology,

each covering approximately 15 days of instruction. For each content area, one unit
was designed as STEM, using conventional instruction (control condition). The other
version embedded various art forms into teaching activities to create arts-­integrated
units (treatment condition). The unit pairs were closely matched to provide the same
content; all activities were allotted the same amount of time; and each unit used simi-
lar modalities (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic). For example, when students were
singing a song to reinforce content in the arts-integrated unit, the students in the
control unit were engaged in choral reading of the same content. Four randomized
groups of students received one body of content through an arts-­integrated unit, and
a second body of content in a control unit that used a traditional presentation. The
design was counterbalanced so that half of the students received arts-integrated units
in the first session while the other half received the control units first.
Our team designed curriculum-based assessments that we administered at the
end of each unit. From pretesting to posttesting, we found that students learned
about the same amount of information, regardless of the way they were taught. As
expected, students did not initially learn more or less when taught through arts inte-
gration. However, 10  weeks later, delayed test scores showed significantly better
student performance for the arts-integrated condition. This result indicates that
infusing the arts into science disciplines may help students remember content better,
compared to traditional teaching. The study revealed a differential benefit when
comparing students according to levels of proficiency in reading. Interestingly,
compared to higher-achieving students, students at the lower levels of achievement
were more likely to retain significantly more science content when given arts-­
integrated lessons, compared to traditional science instruction.
In an expanded study with 16 randomly assigned groups, we tested four sets of
arts-integrated treatment units matched to control units, using four science-content
areas: astronomy, chemistry, life science, and environmental science. Similar to the
first study, students performed better in delayed testing when taught using arts-­
integrated instruction, and students at the average and lower levels of achievement
benefited the most (Hardiman et al. 2019). These studies provided evidence for the
efficacy of using the arts to teach science in a STEAM approach, compared to teach-
ing science using traditional STEM methods.
Our findings also raised some interesting questions about whether or not learning
through the arts resulted in residual benefits. Findings from the second study sug-
gested the possibility that once taught using arts-integrated instruction, students
may later apply the strategies they learned, even during subsequent instruction
through conventional methods. Data from the second study shows that students who
experienced the arts-integrated units first performed significantly better in subse-
quent non-arts-infused units, compared to students who had never experienced the
arts-integrated approach.
While other factors, such as familiarity with the unit structures, may account for
better performance of all students the second time around, our findings nevertheless
raise questions that warrant further investigation. In particular, emerging research
6 M. M. Hardiman and R. M. JohnBull

on creative thinking and problem-solving might connect learning with and through
the arts as a fruitful alternative to conventional methods.

4  Creative Thinking and Problem Solving

We suggest that the arts may influence not only memory for content and engage-
ment in learning but also enhance creative thinking abilities and problem-solving
skills—and these two aspects have become paramount in the call for teaching
twenty-first-century skills, because they are deemed essential for the much-needed
workforce in STEM careers. Rostan (2010) supports this view, positing that engag-
ing in high-quality arts learning demonstrably cultivates creativity and provides an
advantage for related forms of critical thinking.
While traditional instruction focuses on convergent thinking (in which students
are seeking the right response), a hallmark of creativity is divergent thinking (in
which multiple solutions and ways of thinking are encouraged). Within traditionally
taught STEM instruction, teachers might plan a lesson in which a problem is pre-
sented, a solution is sought, and processes for finding the solution are clearly
defined. Lessons that involve more divergent types of learning allows students to
define problems, and then encourages them to find as many different ways to solve
the problem as possible (Beghetto 2017). The arts can drive this divergent process
by providing students with multiple ways to think about, and demonstrate, content
and concepts.
For example, students can learn about the theoretical perspectives of different
scientists by embodying the scientists in dramatic play, and even enact debates
between different scientists with opposing views. They can explore different chemi-
cal processes that take place during the creation of art, such as learning how silk
paintings can be made by dissolving Sharpie ink in water or how a water-soaked
popsicle stick can be formed into a bracelet. Movement and dance can be used when
exploring different states of matter, with students using “tableau”—a group of
motionless performers depicting a scene or story—to demonstrate the properties of
each state. Students can be asked to draw, in various ways, in science lessons: they
could paint the different components of cells or make sketches to visually demon-
strate vocabulary concepts. They can use simple tunes to recite the phases of the
moon or to remember algebraic formulas.
Studying works of art also can provide valuable learning opportunities for stu-
dents. When studying chemistry, students can examine works by artists such as
Etsuko Ichikawa and Andy Goldsworthy, who use chemical processes such as burn-
ing paper and the formation of ice in their work. During astronomy lessons, histori-
cal drawings of the universe can be used to show how humans’ understanding of the
universe has changed throughout history.
Providing opportunities for students to create their own designs can also be ben-
eficial, especially during project-based learning. When studying the environmental
impact of humans on Earth, students can take on the role of landscape architect to
From STEM to STEAM: How Can Educators Meet the Challenge? 7

design an environmentally friendly city neighborhood. In lessons about sustainable

resources, T-shirt design using renewable and nonrenewable fabrics can help to
bring this concept to life.

5  STEAM Instructional Framework

The examples above show that activities that embed the arts into STEM instruction
can be accomplished through simple but potent arts-based activities. Such activities
can help students acquire and retain content and encourage them to make interdis-
ciplinary connections linked to required content standards. Arts-integrated teaching,
however, requires a shift from traditional pedagogical approaches. In our experi-
ence, several important features are essential for successful arts-integrated STEAM
instruction. First, professional development and ongoing coaching support is neces-
sary to help teachers plan lessons in which arts-based activities support and enhance
content instruction that can be accomplished within a reasonable timeframe.
We have observed that some teachers intuitively know how various art forms can
support the content they are teaching. However, we also see that most teachers ben-
efit from training, collaborative planning, and ongoing coaching support. Further,
school-based visual and performing arts educators and artists-in-residency pro-
grams are important resources for teachers moving from STEM to STEAM instruc-
tional approaches, particularly when they all discuss and incorporate the required
content standards.
Another critical tool for teachers is ready access to an instructional framework
that guides them in understanding how arts-integrated instruction is part of a total
instructional program, not just an activity “pasted on” at the end of the lesson. We
have successfully used the Brain-Targeted Teaching (BTT) Model® (Hardiman
2003, 2012) as a framework for arts-integrated instructional unit planning. This
model, informed by research from the learning sciences, delineates six components
of the teaching and learning process. Fundamental to the model is using the arts to
support learning across six domains: (a) establishing the emotional climate for
learning by creating a positive learning environment and mitigating factors that pro-
duce stress; (b) designing the physical learning environment to foster student
engagement through the use of novelty, displaying students’ artistic work, and
attending to environmental features such as visual and acoustic inputs; (c) providing
students with “big picture” concepts of a unit’s content through visual concept map-
ping; (d) teaching for mastery of content, skills, and concepts by using the arts as a
tool to enhance retention; (e) teaching for application of knowledge through real-­
world problem-solving tasks; and (f) evaluating learning through the use of tech-
niques such as the “artist’s portfolio” and performance-based assessments. We
found that an effective way to design arts-integrated units is for classroom teachers
and arts educators to work together to plan an arts-integrated unit using the BTT
framework. Observation checklists associated with the model provide tools for
8 M. M. Hardiman and R. M. JohnBull

administrators and academic and arts-integration coaches to provide meaningful

feedback and support.
We believe that the most effective implementation of STEAM teaching requires
robust professional development accompanied by ongoing individual and group
coaching. It also requires collaborative planning among classroom teachers, consul-
tation with arts educators and artists-in-residence, and an instructional framework
within which content instruction is planned in a holistic manner, which involves
multiple instructional strategies and meaningfully infuses arts-based activities into
scientific-content areas.

6  STEAM and Educational Reform

As we reflect on the proliferation of the STEAM movement as a relatively new

educational initiative, it is important to acknowledge that the arts have informed
scientific discoveries and innovations for centuries. Some of the most creative
inventors of all times were also artists, musicians, and sculptors. For example, Louis
Pasteur drew on his experience of creating lithographs to understand how some
chemical crystals present as mirror images (Klein 2017).
In short, we agree with arts advocates who insist that the arts should no longer be
viewed as the victim of public policy but instead become the driver of reform
(O’Brien 2017). We believe that the STEAM movement will help advance STEM
instruction and even enhance pedagogy in general, moving our students toward
more creative and innovative ways of thinking by experiencing the “aha moments”
that are associated with artistic insights. We believe that the arts can and should be
a core driver of education reform.

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Mariale  M.  Hardiman is Professor of Education and the

 

Co-founder/Director of the Neuro-Education Initiative, a cross-

disciplinary program that brings to educators relevant research
from the learning sciences. Her research focuses on the effects of
arts integration on long-­term retention of content in the STEAM
content areas, and studies teacher professional development on top-
ics related to neuroeducation.

Ranjini M. JohnBull is Assistant Professor in the Johns Hopkins

 

University School of Education, and she serves as the faculty lead

for the Mind, Brain, and Teaching master’s and doctoral special-
izations. Her research focuses on teacher efficacy beliefs, cultural
competence, arts integration, and professional development on
neuroeducation.
The Importance of Integrating the Arts
into STEM Curriculum

Michelle Land

1  STEM Education in the USA

1.1  Investing in STEM

The USA’s education system is composed of both public and private sectors, sepa-
rate from the federal government. In public education, the state and local govern-
ments are primarily involved with establishing educational standards for their
respective districts. Public school educators develop curriculum based on these edu-
cational standards. Although state and local governments are responsible for devel-
oping the standards, the federal government still wields much influence within the
education system, primarily through funding. A major initiative currently in place is
the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) movement. Many
professionals hold the belief that by focusing on these key areas, current students
will later propel the global competitiveness of the USA.
Historically, the USA was considered the leading country in innovation. However,
in 2016, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ranked the USA
fourth, behind Switzerland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Even though the
USA continues to be one of the world’s most innovative nations, the WIPO scores
the country lower in STEM related areas, such as educational expenditures and
number of STEM graduates (Cornell 2016). “As the economic activity of our nation
and the world continues to rapidly transform, the need to invest in education that
promotes innovation and creativity has become primary to the central themes in this
on-going public dialogue” (Immerman 2011).
Progress does not come from technology alone, but rather from the melding of
technology and creative thinking through art and design. According to professionals

M. Land (*)
Riverside Elementary School, Alexandria, VA, USA
e-mail: mhland@[Link]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 11

A. J. Stewart et al. (eds.), Converting STEM into STEAM Programs,
Environmental Discourses in Science Education 5,
[Link]
12 M. Land

such as Dr. Michael Nance (personal communication, September 22, 2012), a Chief
Information Security Officer at Lockheed Martin, the USA is riding on the coattails
of technologies such as personal electronics and personal computing creations
instead of putting brain trust into new scientific and technological breakthroughs. If
the USA wants to remain a global competitor, we must find new or better ways to
foster creative thinking and practice. As long as an individual is pushing personal
boundaries and developing his or her own conceptual methods innovatively, a per-
son can have a creative practice in any field. The arts can help develop STEM skills
because of the more divergent approach. For example, Robert Root-Bernstein’s
study of scientific Nobel laureates demonstrated that most all of the scientific
“geniuses” between 1902 and 2005 were proficient not just in science but also in the
arts (Root-Bernstein et al. 2008).

2  STEAM: The What and Why

2.1  The Need for Creativity

During the Industrial Revolution, education in the USA became accessible to chil-
dren of all socioeconomic backgrounds. Before the government began allotting
funds for teaching and learning, only students from wealthy families could afford a
formal education. Curriculum was developed to teach students how to be a part of
an obedient and industrialized society. Today, technologies have replaced factory
workforces and many information-age jobs. For example, the Whiteley (2015) edu-
cational documentary highlights a company called Narrative Science that used an
algorithm to write a Forbes article without any human involvement. This documen-
tary, Most Likely to Succeed, challenges viewers to think about what will happen
when people feel like their muscle and brainpower are no longer valued and have
been replaced instead by a tiny box.
The push for the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and
Mathematics) platform derives from a perceived shortage in creativity and innova-
tion in recent college graduates in the USA. Currently, our education system teaches
students how to execute given tasks fluidly, but it rarely fosters curiosity and self-­
motivation. Given the strong demand for highly creative STEM workers, the educa-
tion system and government entities need to collaborate to not only invest in the
arts, but also to change the way we view education as a whole. Our antiquated sys-
tem should be restructured to foster different essential skills. Ultimately, what do we
want our students of tomorrow to know when graduating high school or college?
When history facts and mathematic equations can be accessed through the click of
a button, students need be taught communication and collaboration. Educators, like
myself, hope to instil empathy and curiosity in students through critical and creative
thinking. We can help students become more goal-directed and resilient individuals
through our instructional delivery methods and cross-curricular collaboration.
The Importance of Integrating the Arts into STEM Curriculum 13

In 2001, teachers were made accountable through rigorous testing of their stu-
dents, due to the passing of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) (Linn et  al.
2002). School curriculum then changed to meet the content and performance stan-
dards. Before the NCLB was passed, teachers had more voice and choice in their
curriculum. With the standardized tests, students are measured on memorization
skills rather than comprehension. In preparing for the exams, students are taught
that only right and wrong answers exist. But the real world is not purely black and
white. We must encourage the youth of tomorrow to seek multiple solutions to com-
plex problems. Adding the arts into the STEM fields can combat this issue. Well-­
rounded art problems never have one answer. Within the art classroom, opportunities
arise for students to construct their own learning through the decision-making pro-
cess. Artistic license forces students to articulate their own interpretation of the
material in a unit by exploring possibilities. Integrated art-education prompts can
help students better understand or synthesize core content knowledge. Students
should not be assessed on how well they can remember the parts of a cell by name,
but instead better understand the inner workings or attributes of cells, or how the
cells connect to and interact with the individual.

2.2  Student Engagement

We often ask children, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” More often
than not, a child will say an athlete, a teacher, or the job of one of his or her parents.
For as long as I can remember, I knew I wanted to help others and invest my energy
into the art field. I attribute this to the personal connections I developed with a crafty
au pair and my elementary and high school art teachers. I consider myself lucky.
When I graduated high school, most of my peers did not know what they wanted to
be when they “grew up” or even what area they wanted to study. Adults are role
models for children, and we need to expose students to more role models from
different fields. The jobs we share and demonstrate for students can directly affect
their future. Schools should use local community members and parents in respective
fields to add “experts” for in-class research and an authentic audience to give feed-
back on student projects. In addition to face-to-face time with professionals, online
experiences exist for schools that empower students to test-drive future STEM
careers. LifeJourney, one of these immersive online experiences, provides students
with opportunities to learn directly from top industry professionals while practicing
the so-called hard and soft skills required for different occupations. “LifeJourney,
Inc.” (2013–2017) welcomes students, parents, schools, and companies to be part of
this tutoring process. By embedding various STEAM-related occupations in les-
sons, students can take on professionals’ roles such as fabrication engineers, marine
biologists, architects, and video-game designers. As a nation, we seem too focused
on teaching to the standardized tests. It is time to teach to the purpose of engaging
and inspiring students.
14 M. Land

Table 1  Percentage of students engaged in school, by Grade (N = 909,617)a

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th
2016 Gallup Student Poll results
a

According to the 2016 Gallup Student Poll of students in grades five through 12,
student engagement drops significantly, from 74% at its peak in grade five to 32%
at its lowest in grade 11, with a slight increase to 34% in grade 12 (Table 1). What
is it about education from fifth grade onward that contributes to the decline of
engagement? I attribute this decline to the lack of new experiences, reduced per-
sonal connection, and less student choice. As a student gets older, he or she is
exposed to more and more information. Over time, this information is taught repeat-
edly in schools, building on previous knowledge, even if the content area does not
interest the student. Imagine where kindergarten would measure on Table 1. What
do you think would happen to the percentage of students engaged? Many kindergar-
ten classrooms today involve play, learning centers, and aesthetically pleasing and
colourful spaces. Student choice is essential for engagement. When teaching
STEAM lessons, posing open-ended questions or creating challenges with opportu-
nities for discovery is of utmost importance.

2.3  Arts Integration and Its Influence on Retention

Have you ever heard anyone refer to himself or herself as a strictly visual learner?
According to functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) results of brain
research on the different modalities of learning, this is a common misconception.
Everyone has visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning abilities. If an individual is
taught the concept of seed germination through a series of images, this person may
be able to describe the appearances of different stages of seed germination. When
accompanied with an auditory description of how seed germination occurs, a person
is then more likely to recall the stages of germination. Finally, if that person illus-
trates the stages of germination or climate necessary for the germination process,
The Importance of Integrating the Arts into STEM Curriculum 15

this individual has more access points for that information. In short, when an indi-
vidual is taught a single concept, the brain creates neural pathways connecting that
concept to his or her experience. The more access points or neural pathways estab-
lished, the greater the chance of retention and recall. This idea underpins the con-
cept of scaffolding. Integrating the arts into core content areas does more than
enable students to explore a single concept from different vantage points: it uses all
the different modalities of learning previously mentioned, and thus leads to the for-
mation of more neural pathways.
In her TED Talk, Doodler’s Unite, Sunni Brown challenges the viewer to rede-
fine doodling as an act “of making spontaneous marks to help yourself think.”
According to her research, people who doodle when exposed to verbal information
have a 29% higher retention rate than their nondoodling counterparts (Brown 2011).
Brown reiterates the positive effect doodling has on problem-solving through
engaging the different modalities of learning. To fully retain or respond to the infor-
mation, learners need to use at least two of her four defined modalities (visual, audi-
tory, kinaesthetic, reading/writing), or use one coupled with a strong emotion.
Brown argues that the biggest contribution of doodling is that it “engages all four
areas simultaneously with the possibility of an emotional experience.” STEM les-
sons that include visual reasoning and responses through the incorporation of art
result in students that have richer and more engaging learning experiences.

3  Theory to Practice

3.1  Planning for Success

Supporters of the STEAM initiative may theorize how STEAM looks in the class-
room, but it is the educators’ and administrators’ job to develop and implement the
content. One of the biggest challenges of teaching STEAM is the amount of plan-
ning that goes into curriculum development. With a compartmentalized system that
has been in place for over 125 years, it is difficult for teachers to educate students in
ways that bridge all STEAM components without having a strong foundation in
each content area. At its core, STEAM is cross-curricular collaboration. With every
newly formed teaching method, the teachers involved in designing STEAM units
must be “team players” willing to co-plan and sometimes even co-teach. To make
this outcome a reality, teachers need more opportunities for uninterrupted planning
time with a STEAM-focused collaborative learning team.
If a mathematics teacher and an art teacher work together to implement a STEAM
unit, the two teachers should introduce new mathematics skills and new art skills
through an overarching concept. This overarching concept, or “big idea,” is the
branching-off point that relates the two content areas. For example, if the big idea
was data, the mathematics teacher could introduce skills related to data collection
and frequency charts. Simultaneously, the art educator could introduce skills related
to visual literacy through the use of color, icons, and style. In the end, the synthesis
16 M. Land

of learning may be a data visualization representing personally collected data

through the use of colors and icons. Other applications of STEAM may take the
form of circuit bending, musical compositions, kinetic art, product design, proto-
type development, and/or performance art.
Five years ago, I would have said that effective STEAM lessons should have an
equal amount of learning in each content area. However, this is not always possible
or even probable. Some content areas are easier to bridge than others. Many of my
educational colleagues hold the belief that a fruitful STEAM lesson should high-
light at least three of the STEAM- related capacities. For instance, a STEAM lesson
can challenge students to highlight mathematic tessellation in mosaic sculptures
through the engineering design process. This objective-based approach could
require students to use a digital 3D design application, employing the technology
piece of STEAM.
A successful way to plan STEAM lessons is to start with the standards: specify
the knowledge you want students to gain by the end of the project, then find connec-
tions in the real world. For example, if I want my students to understand simple
machines, I should think about what occupations use simple machines. A list could
include various professionals: machinist, recreation architect, commercial welder,
and fabrication engineers, to name a few. Then, I think about what those profession-
als create, and I brainstorm ways that a student could mimic a similar process in my
classroom while exciting and engaging him or her. With a population of elementary
school students, I could have students take on the role of a recreation architect to
design a simple machine maze game. As a Project Based Learning (PBL) county-­
support teacher, I phrase most of my STEAM challenges as driving questions: How
can you, as recreation architects, construct a simple machine maze game for other
students in your class to enjoy? To the complete the challenge, students must fully
understand simple machines and design/build a maze, all while being exposed to a
real-world profession. Challenge students to embed artistic design elements and a
research-based approach, and make sure students use multiple STEAM areas.
Ultimately, students can create a model, or mini-version of his or her maze with a
group of peers, collaborating and communicating their ideas in the process. This
open-ended, objective-driven project allows for student voice and choice. Teachers
can assess along the way using blueprint designs with written components, exit
tickets, in-progress critiques, and ultimately, an evaluation of the final product and
presentation of the work.
With the availability of personal computing devices and abundance of applica-
tions available, one or more technology links almost always exit. Many educators
use technology for simple substitutions with no functional change, like slide shows
or pen-and-paper responses. The Substitution, Augmentation, Modification,
Redefinition (SAMR) Model, developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura (2006), is another
tool to advance STEAM lessons to the next level. Puentedura (op. cit.) highlights
the importance of using technology to push the boundaries of student k­ nowledge
and capability. A student can simply substitute a presentation for a slide show or
Prezi and then further augment the project by embedding videos and personal voice
recordings. The student can then modify the original project with the design of a
The Importance of Integrating the Arts into STEM Curriculum 17

user-directed multimedia document with QR codes or augmented reality. To rede-

fine the technological capabilities, students can collaborate to create a commercial
in iMovie and then post it to a public forum for a completely new interactive
experience.
STEAM challenges can provide a student with the opportunity to completely
redefine his or her learning. If teachers are exposed to the SAMR model and have
the opportunity to create rough SAMR ladders, they can brainstorm ways to advance
the ways students explore and curate content knowledge. For more information,
reference Common Sense Education (2016). The most crucial step in STEAM les-
sons is the planning phase. When teachers are allowed more objective-driven plan-
ning time, students have richer learning experiences.

3.2  Major STEAM Initiatives

Nationwide, forward-thinking movers and shakers are developing their own STEAM
curricula to help advance our youth. In September, 2010, the Wolf Trap Foundation
for the Performing Arts was awarded a 4-year $1.15 million grant (Ludwig et al.
2016). This grant helped launch a “first-of-its-kind” arts initiative, The Early
Childhood STEM Learning Through the Arts (Early STEM/Arts). According to the
2016 publication, Arts Integration: A Promising Approach to Improving Early
Learning, this program was the subject of a 4-year study conducted by the American
Institutes for Research (AIR) in partnership with Fairfax County Public Schools in
Virginia. The AIR study found that Wolf Trap’s Early STEM/Arts program had a
significant positive impact on the standardized mathematics test scores of students
whose teachers had participated in Wolf Trap’s training and related activities in the
first 2 years of the study. This effect was attributed to integrating performing arts
into the mathematics curriculum.
In 2013, Dr. Maggie Madsen, Potsdam University Provost, worked with a team
of professionals on an interdisciplinary STEAM degree program research study in
partnership with Lockheed Martin. Faculty for this multidisciplinary research study
included instructors in the Art, Music, Theater, Biology, Psychology, Chemistry,
Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, and Business arenas. Unfortunately, due
to funding constraints, the STEAM degree program was never officially approved.
Nonetheless, professors are now more interested in collaborating outside of their
degree program area, leading to an increase in more integrated classes and greater
interest for dual degrees among the student population. Kristin Esterberg, Potsdam
University President, refers to the University as a “creativity campus.”
In 2013, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) announced the formation
of the bipartisan Congressional STEAM Caucus (Bonamici 2013). Her co-chair,
Elise Stefanik (R-NY), joined the push for STEAM in 2015. This group focuses on
integrating the arts, and advocates for policy changes that will encourage educators
to adopt STEAM into their repertoire. John Maeda, former President of Rhode
Island School of Design (RISD) and a major proponent for STEAM, participated in
18 M. Land

a Capitol Hill briefing to the Congressional STEAM Caucus. At this briefing, the
Congressional STEAM Caucus reintroduced House Resolution 51, stating that art
and design promote creativity and economic growth. On July 20, 2017, US
Representatives Jim Langevin (D-RI), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), and Elise
Stefanik (R-NY) amended the STEM Education Act of 2015 by requiring the
National Science Foundation (NSF) to promote the integration of art and design
thinking in STEM education (U.S.  Government, House of Congress 2017). The
amended bill, STEM to STEAM Act of 2017, entails designing and testing informal
STEAM programs by the NSF. This will not only allow for program assessment, but
also help improve educational outcomes and promote creativity and innovation.
Informal STEAM programs may include afterschool programs, maker spaces,
nature labs, science and technology-centered community programs, STEAM spe-
cials, and museum workshops.

4  Conclusion

STEM education was created to educate a more realized youth with the “hard” and
“soft” high-tech skills necessary for expanding the STEM job market. Professionals
across the board appreciate this effort, but even with a focus on STEM, a broad
perception is that recent graduates lack the innovative spirit and drive required to
advance the USA. In the end, the education system revolves around the students.
The STEAM initiative offers students more than high-tech skills. We need to pro-
vide school systems with proper funding and teachers with more training. Moreover,
teachers need additional focused planning time to develop objective-driven STEAM
lessons. Integrating the arts into the STEM curriculum provides pathways for per-
sonal meaning making and real-world connections. Educational awareness and
funding of the STEAM initiative can enable students to construct their own learning
and thus become more resilient, goal-directed, critical and creative thinkers.

References

Bonamici, S. (2013). Reps. Bonamici and Schock announce bipartisan congressional STEAM
caucus. Retrieved from [Link] website: [Link]
reps-bonamici-and-schock-announce-bipartisan-congressional-steam-caucus
Brown, S. (Presenter). (2011, March). Doodlers, unite! [Video file]. Retrieved from [Link]
[Link]/talks/sunni_brown#t-244080
Common Sense Education (Producer). (2016, July 12). Ruben Puentedura on applying the
SAMR model [Video file]. Retrieved from [Link]
ruben-puentedura-on-applying-the-samr-model
Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). (2016).
Global Innovation Index 2016: Switzerland, Sweden, UK, U.S., Finland, Singapore Lead;
China Joins Top 25. Retrieved from the WIPO website: [Link]
articles/2016/article_0008.html
The Importance of Integrating the Arts into STEM Curriculum 19

Immerman, S.  D. (2011). Letting off “STEAM” at Montserrat college of art. Retrieved from
New England Journal of Higher Education website: [Link]
letting-off-steam-at-montserrat-college-of-art/
LifeJourney, Inc. (2013–2017). Retrieved September 2, 2017, from LifeJourney website: https://
[Link]/
Linn, R., Baker, E., & Betebenner, D. (2002). Accountability systems: Implications of requirements
of the No Child Left behind Act of 2001. Educational Researcher, 31(6), 3–16. Retrieved from
[Link]
Ludwig, M., Marklein, M.  B., & Song, M. (2016). Arts integration: A promising approach to
improving early learning. Retrieved from Wolf Trap website: [Link]
media/files/pdf/education/[Link]?la=en
Pentedura, R. R. (2006). Transformation, technology and education. online at [Link]
resources/tte/
Root-Bernstein, R., Allen, L., Beach, L., Bhadula, R., Fast, J., Hosey, C., Kremkow, B., Lapp,
J., Lonc, K., Pawelec, K., Podufaly, A., & Russ, C. (2008). Arts foster scientific success:
Avocations of nobel, national academy, royal society, and sigma ii members. Journal of
Psychology of Science and Technology. [Link]
U.S. Government, House of Congress. (2017). 115th congress 1st session H.R. 3344. Retrieved
from [Link] website: [Link]
pdf
Whiteley, G. (Producer, director, writer), Dintersmith, T., Leibowitz, A., Lombroso, D., & Ridley,
A. (Producers). (2015). Most likely to succeed [Documentary]. United States: One Potato
Productions.

Michelle Land  is an Art Specialist, STEAM Teacher, and

Project Based Learning (PBL) County Support teacher for Fairfax
County Public Schools. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts
degree and a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from Maryland
Institute College of Art and has taught STEAM-based summer
camps for the National Smithsonian in Washington D.C. She also
has presented on STEAM for the National Art Education
Association. Her current teaching practice revolves around expos-
ing students to real-world challenges and professions while put-
ting the “A” in STEAM.
Purposeful Pursuits: Leveraging
the Epistemic Practices of the Arts
and Sciences

Bronwyn Bevan, Kylie Peppler, Mark Rosin, Lynn Scarff, Elisabeth Soep,

and Jen Wong

The object of art is to give life a shape

Jean Anouilh

1  Introduction

Decades of research make clear that purpose and meaning are essential to learning
(NRC 2012a). Purpose and meaning drive our interests, questions, and persistence;
they urge us to branch out and go deeper. They are central to both being and becom-
ing: reflecting and also shaping our identities as individuals, or as members of com-
munities, who value and know a place, a practice, a domain of objects, a body of
knowledge.

B. Bevan (*)
College of Education, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
K. Peppler
The Creativity Labs, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
e-mail: kpeppler@[Link]
M. Rosin
Guerilla Science US, New York, NY, USA
e-mail: mark@[Link]
L. Scarff
National Museum of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
e-mail: lscarff@[Link]
E. Soep
YR Media, Oakland, CA, USA
e-mail: lissa@[Link]
J. Wong
Guerilla Science UK, London, UK
e-mail: jen@[Link]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 21

A. J. Stewart et al. (eds.), Converting STEM into STEAM Programs,
Environmental Discourses in Science Education 5,
[Link]
22 B. Bevan et al.

Purpose is highly personal, cultural, and contingent. It can ebb and flow over
time. It develops from opportunity and it also creates opportunity. Purpose emerges
when individuals recognize, and are recognized for, opportunities to participate in,
contribute to, and transform social activities that have meaning and value to the
learner (Stetsenko 2017). Implicit in this vision is the idea of entering into and
becoming an integral part of communities of practice, with opportunities to observe
expertise, to practice one’s skills, to develop and float one’s ideas, while becoming
more and more central participants in the valued activity, including coming to rede-
fine or reinvent the activities themselves (Lave and Wenger 1991).
For decades, research on the arts and education has documented the ways in
which the arts create personally meaningful contexts for young people to develop a
sense of purpose and therefore of self (e.g., Greene 1977). At the heart of these arts
activities are opportunities for the creative production of something—whether tem-
poral, virtual, performed, displayed, or gifted to an authentic audience. The value of
creative production with authentic audiences has been explored, for example, in
theatre (Heath 2000), gallery exhibitions (Smith 2014), community arts projects
(Kafai and Peppler 2012), storytelling and poetry (Soep 2006), and, more recently,
in maker communities (Bevan 2017).
Purpose also sits at the heart of current science educational reform movements in
the USA. State science standards, adapting the National Research Council’s consen-
sus volume K-12 Framework for Science Education (NRC 2012b), emphasize the
practices of science, such as identifying questions, using computational thinking,
creating and using models, and arguing from evidence. These reforms hold that
engaging students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)
practices creates authentic and purposeful contexts for deeper engagement in and
with STEM—driven by questions or needs identified by the learners—leading to
greater STEM learning as well as to the development of productive STEM learning
identities (Berland et al. 2015).
But many young people face significant economic, cultural, historical, and/or
social obstacles that distance them from STEM as a meaningful or viable option—
these range from under-resourced schools, race- and gender-based discrimination,
to the dominant cultural norms of STEM professions or the historical uses of STEM
to oppress or disadvantage socio-economically marginalized communities (Philip
and Azevedo 2017). As a result, participation in STEM-organized hobby groups,
academic programs, and professions remains low among many racial, ethnic, and
gender groups (Dawson 2017). One solution to this imbalance has been to reposi-
tion STEM as STEAM—integrating the arts and design in ways that can have wider
appeal to a broader cross section of young people. Integrating the arts and sciences
is not only a strategy for broadening appeal, it also reflects the ways in which par-
ticipation in civic, academic, and professional activities is becoming increasingly
hybridized, requiring communication, design, and technological skills. A STEAM
approach to broadening participation or inclusion can be relevant across the four
distinct “discourses of equity” that Philip and Azevedo (2017) posit underpin
research on equity in out-of-school STEM.  They argue that equity in informal
STEM education is seldom articulated but variously conceptualized as (a) s­ upporting
student achievement in school STEM, (b) building student STEM learning interest
Purposeful Pursuits: Leveraging the Epistemic Practices of the Arts and Sciences 23

and identity through more authentic engagement with STEM, (c) democratizing
STEM by locating its presence and uses in everyday life, or (d) understanding how
STEM can be taken up by social justice movements as a tool for achieving transfor-
mation and change. How informal STEM programs advance equity can thus vary
widely, depending on their conceptualization of equity.
As STEAM becomes more deeply theorized, it may be valuable to consider the
evidence base that suggests that engaging in the epistemic practices of a discipline
will lead to deeper disciplinary learning and more productive learning identities
(e.g., see NGSS or Common Core in the USA). In other words, integrating purpose
and meaning into engagement with the disciplines links epistemological and onto-
logical processes of development. Further, an epistemic approach (unlike a concepts-­
based approach) is potentially relevant across the four distinct discourses of equity
articulated by Philip and Azevedo; i.e., it can enrich programs focused on STEM
school achievement as well as those concerned with broader social transformation.
But what are the epistemic practices of the “discipline” of STEAM?

2  Background and Rationale

In this section we briefly describe what research says about epistemic practices in
science and art and explore what these findings might mean for theorizing and
enacting STEAM programs that can advance youth purpose and agency.

2.1  Epistemic Practices in STEM

In STEM fields, there is a long history of promoting hands-on, problem-based, and

inquiry-based learning (Driver et al. 1994). More recently, improvement efforts in
the USA have begun to focus on the epistemic practices of these disciplines (NRC
2012b). These reforms emphasize the ways that professional scientists, mathemati-
cians, technologists, and engineers use disciplinary practices, such as evidence-­
based reasoning, to answer specific questions or solve specific problems. The reform
movement posits that students can develop deeper understanding of and about sci-
ence by using these same practices toward purposeful ends. For instance, students
develop conceptual understanding as they engage in epistemic practices to explore
local environmental problems, understand community patterns of health and well-
ness, or design computer games or mobile applications.
Implicit in this approach are two ideas. One is that purposeful learning provides
opportunities for deeper learning (NRC 2012a), and another is that by engaging in
STEM practices, young people may come to value STEM in the same ways that
practicing STEM professionals do—not by reading about it, but by doing it for an
authentic purpose (NRC 2012b). This strategy may be especially important for
STEM programs that seek to engage learners from communities that have been
historically excluded from STEM.
24 B. Bevan et al.

The National Research Council’s (2012b) K-12 Framework for Science Education
identified eight practices related to science and engineering. These practices describe
how scientists and engineers build knowledge about the natural and designed world.
To help educators, researchers have organized these practices into three conceptu-
ally manageable clusters of activities: investigating, sense-making, and critiquing
practices (McNeill et  al. 2016). A critical distinction between practice-oriented
approaches to STEM learning and prior instantiations, such as inquiry-based learn-
ing, is an emphasis on the critiquing phase of STEM learning (Engle and Conant
2002). Prior inquiry-based reform efforts focused on the investigating and sense-­
making phases, but often were organized in ways that, intentionally or not, omitted
explicit attention to scientific argumentation—i.e., negotiating between competing
explanations through critiquing the nature and validity of evidence marshalled to
support explanations—as well as to connecting explanations with a larger scientific
discourse related to the scientific  phenomena  being explored. This key aspect of
STEM sits at the heart of peer review processes.

2.2  Epistemic Practices in the Arts

Three broad concepts are important to epistemic practices in the arts: (1) active
engagement in the learning process; (2) youth’s personal connection to their work,
which is posited to inspire a general love of learning and build upon their prior
experiences; and (3) the creation of projects that are of value to a larger community.
These concepts connect to both sociocultural theories of learning and theories of the
arts and aesthetics (Greene 1995; Dewey 1934/1980). Arts learning focuses, on one
level, on the design of artifacts rather than on the use of artifacts and tools, and, on
another level, it focuses on the bidirectional relationship between an individual and
a community of learners. According to Dewey, “[a]rt denotes the process of doing
or making,” and provides a tool by which we search for meaning (1934/1980, p. 47).
Being active in the learning process is important to current conceptions of what it
means to be motivated and to engage deeply in the content.
Kafai and Peppler (2011) have investigated the epistemic practices of youth’s
creative production, illuminating how youth engage in multiple literacies and
diverse forms of authentic participation as they engage in interest-driven projects
(New London Group 2006; Guzzetti and Yang 2006; Lankshear and Knobel 2011).
Their work provides a holistic vision of visual/media culture, new technologies, and
traditional art making, and identifies ten practices relating to full participation in
communities built around creative production. These ten practices are organized
into four clusters of activities: technical, critical, creative, and ethical practices.
Technical practices in the arts relate to crafting within the medium selected for a
piece, which determine medium-specific skillsets such as coding, debugging, and
repurposing of materials. Artists engage in critical epistemic practices—observing
and deconstructing media, evaluating or reflecting (i.e., critique), referencing and
reworking—as they strive for originality or to thoughtfully break from tradition.
Purposeful Pursuits: Leveraging the Epistemic Practices of the Arts and Sciences 25

Creative practices, perhaps the most well known in the arts, involve making mean-
ingful and artistic choices (e.g., pertaining to color theory, shape and contour, musi-
cal instrumentation, etc.) to transform the intended “meaning” of a piece, or to forge
connections between various modalities in contemporary work. Lastly, a range of
ethical practices has emerged in the arts around ownership and information. This
expanded palette of previously conceptualized practices surrounding participation
in the arts includes a broader spectrum of design activities important to contempo-
rary practice, as well as youth culture.

2.3  STEAM: Intersections Between the Arts and Sciences

The promise of STEAM approaches is that by coupling STEM and the arts, new
understandings and artifacts emerge that transcend either discipline. Evidence of
this potential can be seen through fundamental shifts in both fields. The infusion of
the arts into STEM has shown to be transformative, for example, with the emer-
gence of tools and communities that not only engender new content understandings
but also invite participation from populations historically underrepresented in
STEM fields (Peppler 2013). Similarly, the use of STEM tools and data in the arts
have created important bodies of work for artists exploring intersections of the natu-
ral and social worlds.
In the UK, Ireland, and Europe, the evolution of the field of art-science (the field
in which art and science overlap), particularly in the last 10 years, has been socially
and culturally significant. Science now appears in places and spaces ranging from
galleries like the Wellcome Collection and Science Gallery Dublin to culturally
arts-oriented festivals such as Latitude and Secret Garden Party (Bultitude and
Sardo 2012; Dowell 2014). Scientifically embedded arts programs ranging from
Collide@CERN and a subset of science festivals (von Roten and Moeschler 2007)
represent one end of a spectrum, while hybrid programs like Ars Electronica and
Waag Society occupy a more central position. Growing out of the Wellcome Trust’s
SciArt funding scheme started in the mid 1990s (Glinkowski and Bamford 2009;
Born and Barry 2010), art and science programming has moved from a more aca-
demic realm into a public space. This work has not instrumentalized the arts or
science, but rather sought out a rich, fertile space for producing compelling cultural
events and programming through a collaborative-practices approach. Art-science
approaches speak to contemporary social, political, and economic concerns demand-
ing transdisciplinary platforms and methods of working that allow for professionals,
particularly in science, health and technology, to conceptualize their subject exper-
tise through a broad thematic approach, as opposed to a discipline-specific perspec-
tive. Art-science programs have demonstrated the strong effects that such approaches
can have on learners—removing them from specific identities of the “artsy” or
“mathsy” person and placing them in a context that is purpose driven, offering an
opportunity for creative and flexible thinking that maps onto their key concerns.
26 B. Bevan et al.

Increasingly this work is being developed in the USA, supported by organizations

such as the Sloan Foundation, the Simons Foundation, and others.
Despite the promising aspects of this work, practice is well ahead of educational
research in the context of STEAM. As this volume illustrates, there are many exam-
ples of exceptional STEAM or arts-and-sciences programs for young people. But
there are also many examples, not detailed in this volume, of programs that style
themselves as STEAM but do not do so in any deeply theorized way: in these pro-
grams, science activities may have some decorative tasks attached, or arts activities
may integrate scientific phenomena, such as color mixing or electrical circuitry. But
the epistemological and conceptual aspects of the “added” discipline—for example,
the use of evidence-based reasoning in science programs, or of performance and
critique in arts programs—typically are left unexplored.
In the next section we describe an approach being taken by an international col-
laboration of educators and researchers to better understand and theorize the ways
in which the thoughtful integration of the epistemic practices of the arts and the
sciences enrich learning in both areas, while supporting ontological processes for
young people from economically and racially marginalized communities (Bevan
et al. 2018; Bevan and Scarff 2015; Peppler and Wohlwend 2017).

3  A
 Framework for the Intersection of Epistemic Practices
in the Arts and Sciences

Funded by joint grants awarded by the National Science Foundation in the USA and
the Wellcome Trust in the UK, our study sites include Science Gallery Dublin, a
public museum space at the intersection of science and art that targets young adults;
Guerilla Science, a program based in London and New York that stages art and sci-
ence events in unexpected settings, such as music or arts festivals serving primarily
young adults; Youth Radio in Oakland, a program serving older youth in which
participants explore contemporary issues and produce nationally aired radio seg-
ments and various digital platforms; WacArts, a London-based secondary school
specializing in the arts; and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Indiana’s summer Maker
camps, serving young children and tweens. All of these programs are free and serve
youth from marginalized communities. As such, they work with youth over time and
collect demographic data about participants. Guerilla Science is an exception given
its focus on situating programs in live festivals or street-corners.
The underlying sociocultural theory guiding our work conceptualizes learning as
a process that develops in supportive and responsive communities in which youth’s
cultural, intellectual, and emotional resources are recognized and leveraged as they
participate in purposeful and consequential activities (Nasir et  al. 2006). Under
these conditions, youth exercise and expand their agency, key to the development of
productive learning identities (Holland et  al. 1998). As such, we are using a
­framework (see Table 1) that builds on the work of the National Research Council’s
Purposeful Pursuits: Leveraging the Epistemic Practices of the Arts and Sciences 27

Table 1  A framework for epistemic practices of the arts and sciences

STEM practices Epistemic intersections Arts practices
Investigative practices Exploratory practices Technical & critical practices
• Asking questions/ • Noticing and questioning • Looking closely
defining problems • Exploring materiality • Deconstructing the parts of the
• Planning and carrying • Defining the problem space/ text (at a literal level) and the
out investigations deconstructing components meaning behind the text
• Using mathematical • Producing tentative
and computational representations
thinking
Sense-making practices Meaning-making practices Creative practices
• Developing and using • Principled iterations/revisions • Applying artistic principles to
models (responding to feedback) augment meaning
• Analyzing and • Considering multiple • Designing interrelations within
nterpreting data approaches and across multiple sign systems
• Constructing • Engaging multiple modalities • Referencing or combining
explanations/ • Finding relevance existing works and ideas
designing solutions • Adopting a critical stance
Critiquing practices Critiquing practices Ethical practices
• Arguing from • Sharing results • Negotiating what constitutes a
evidence/peer review • Hacking the ideas of others “good” project
• Evaluating and • Engaging in critical reviews • Given a particular artistic goal,
communicating • Cultivating dissent evaluating how successfully this
findings • Holding commitments to goal has been met
standards of the field

(2012b) K12 Framework for Science Education and of Kafai and Peppler (2011).
Through this framework, investigators can explore how engaging in the socio-­
historically purposeful epistemic disciplinary practices of arts, sciences, and arts-­
and-­sciences (STEAM) advances purpose, agency, and learning for young people
from communities historically excluded from STEM and other domains of privilege.
The intersection of these epistemic practices is central to many STEAM-based
programs (Bevan and Scarff 2015). For example, Maker programs, involving activi-
ties such as e-textiles or kinetic sculptures, entail exploring materiality, producing
tentative representations, collecting and responding to feedback, and revising plans
and products (Peppler 2013; Bevan 2017).
Digital production programs, such as Scratch ([Link]), integrate
processes of planning and designing, deconstructing components, responding to
feedback, and critiquing and explaining within the Scratch community (Resnick
and Rosenbaum 2013). Media-related programs, such as Youth Radio, integrate
noticing and questioning, collecting data, developing representations of understand-
ing, responding to feedback and critique, and producing and communicating
evidence-­based explanations (Chávez and Soep 2005).
To illustrate: at one of our study sites, to mark the 60th anniversary of the deseg-
regation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, a group of present-day
Central High students contacted Youth Radio in Oakland, California, to create a
28 B. Bevan et al.

social media reenactment of that historic day. With interviews, hand-drawn illustra-
tions, and archival tape and photos from the original Little Rock Nine (LR9), the
young people issued this provocation: If Twitter had been available in 1957, how
would the Little Rock Nine story have unfolded? Also, how do the themes and con-
ditions of the original Little Rock Nine remain relevant to racial inequality and
school resegregation today? With this premise as a starting point, the teams in
Oakland and Little Rock designed and coded a website from scratch, programmed
a live Twitter reenactment and produced a story that aired on National Public Radio.
They went through several iterations for the design of the final site as well as indi-
vidual assets—for example, using illustration software and data tables to meticu-
lously match hand-drawn portraits of the original “Nine” to archival and
contemporary photos. Youth members of the various teams reviewed and critiqued
one another’s work and devised ways to showcase the strongest materials to bring
the past alive while connecting that history to data on racial divisions and disparities
in education today.
In another example, every quarter, Science Gallery Dublin transforms its entire
exhibition and education programming to focus on a broad theme, such as HUMANS
NEED NOT APPLY (artificial intelligence), SECRET (data, privacy and encryp-
tion), IN CASE OF EMERGENCY (global challenges through trope of apocalyptic
literature). The future-facing topics are chosen so that they can be interrogated by
artists, scientists, humanities scholars, and designers. As a part of this work, the
museum invites groups of 17–18-year-old “Transition Year (TY) students” to spend
a week at the museum developing public programs related to the new theme. These
students are predominantly from second level schools that are traditionally under
represented in undergraduate student intakes in Irish universities. Students engage
with scientists and artists working on the theme, and begin developing their own
project. For example, for IN CASE OF EMERGENCY, the museum created a
Situation Room in which visitors were presented with a realistic, potentially cata-
strophic situation such as a viral outbreak or a tsunami. The TY students worked
with the researchers and designers to develop, test and adapt the gameplay of the
Situation Room. They started by looking at the established game “Cards Against
Humanity,” critiquing and understanding the gameplay. This was followed by a
deep immersion into the themes of the exhibition through Q&A sessions with cura-
torial advisors and researchers. In this process, participants came to grips with some
of the global challenges we face, from viral outbreaks to climate change, and they
began to develop scenarios based around these issues. This learning was then
mapped onto critiquing and developing the gameplay developed for the IN CASE
OF EMERGENCY Situation Room.
As these examples show, such approaches have authentic audiences and conse-
quential purposes. They integrate a range of investigatory, sense-making, and cri-
tiquing processes in the context of the creative production of, in one case, a radio
segment and website and, in the other case, a museum experience. We follow this
overview with two short examples from our early work in the field that may better
illustrate the ways in which epistemic practices emerge, interweave, and hybridize
in arts-and-sciences programs. While we chose these examples because they high-
Purposeful Pursuits: Leveraging the Epistemic Practices of the Arts and Sciences 29

light a particular cluster of practices, we also note that other arts, STEM, or STEAM
practices co-occur in these activities, which are not reflected here. We also argue
that while these new types of epistemic intersections frequently occur in this work,
it would be unlikely to find all of them well represented in any one STEAM activity.
Rather, these examples serve to highlight and illustrate our emerging
understandings.

3.1  E
 xample 1 – STEAM-Rich Tinkering in a Weekly
Afterschool Youth Program

At the Sunshine Public School (an alias) afterschool Making and Tinkering program
(conducted in partnership with the Exploratorium Tinkering Studio), young people
explore various physical materials as they engage in everyday versions of “engi-
neering practices” to design and build contraptions of various types. Participants
develop design goals inspired by the available materials as well as examples of prior
work shared in the introduction of the activities. Negotiating form and function is at
the heart of tinkering. Students’ initial aesthetic goals inevitably lead to cascading
sets of unforeseen constraints forcing improvisational problem-solving and generat-
ing new possibilities and ideas. This iterative process may be more reactive and less
scripted than most formalized engineering processes, but it similarly involves opti-
mizing performance while maintaining commitments to particular (often evolving)
aesthetic goals and design solutions.
An example of this back-and-forth in artistic and scientific/engineering practices
of creative production can be found in the story of a young, teenage student, Stephan.
We documented Stephan, during a weekly afterschool program, as he designed a
marble machine: a 5-foot peg board on which one builds a series of ramps and
tracks that can guide a marble’s journey from the top to bottom of the board. At the
onset of this activity, Stephan developed an aesthetic goal, unique to him among his
classmates, to use both sides of the peg board to make the marble’s pathway that
much longer and therefore that much slower than it would be otherwise (Bevan
et al. 2018). His personal solution to the challenge of slowing the descent created a
unique set of challenges that other students didn’t have to negotiate: at the points
where he tried to connect the tracks at the front and back of the board, the marble
frequently shot off to the side, or got caught at the joints of connecting ramps.
Stephan experimented with many materials and methods for rounding the edges of
the board before deciding to use a Slinky as a tunnel that could curve around the
board. This elegant solution addressed one problem, but it created a new one: the
Slinky’s sagging coils created dips or valleys that caught the marble. Stephan needed
to create a dense network of supporting dowels to prop up the Slinky at key points.
Inspired by the demonstration model shared by the facilitator, he explored how dif-
ferent fabrics could be used to line the track and slow the marble further. Through
principled iterations, he discovered that the most textured fabrics slowed the marble
30 B. Bevan et al.

the most. Finally, when he placed a metal bowl at the bottom of the ramp to catch
the marble, he was surprised by the delightful ring the marble made when it dropped
into the bowl. This unplanned discovery led him to go back to the top of the peg
board and add metal objects throughout so that the marble’s journey became a sound
installation as well.
In this STEAM activity we can see epistemic practices of both art and science, as
well as a hybrid form inherent in tinkering. Engineering practices included design-
ing solutions, testing and optimizing solutions, and later communicating results
(NRC 2012b). Aesthetic practices included looking closely, augmenting meaning
through aesthetics (as in the case of the wrap-around track), and even evaluating the
success of the project exemplified by his decision to add musical elements to the
entire project (Kafai and Peppler 2011). The integrated or hybridized practices of
tinkering involved iterative but not necessarily systematic experimentation. Choices
were purposeful, and frequently made in response to aesthetic goals. Through these
iterations, Stephan engaged with scientific concepts (such as velocity and friction)
and gained intuitive feelings for the properties of materials and phenomena that
could serve as the foundations for more formalized sense-making experiences. His
positive experience may also inspire interest in taking up such formalized experi-
ences in the future. In the example we provide here, sense-making is implicit. The
classroom was organized so that young people could observe each other’s work, and
choose to adopt or adapt particular solutions (Petrich et al. 2013). Facilitators also
led student share-outs on a regular basis. These processes allowed students to col-
laboratively engage in various forms of sense-making about the materials they were
investigating or the design practices they were undertaking. The educators intro-
duced forms of criticality by taking students on field trips to visit and speak with
local artists who worked with similar materials or mechanisms (Ryoo et al. 2016).
In addition to conveying a sense of standards in the field (what professional uses of
the same materials or skills looked like and led to), field trips operated to expand
horizons by making connections between the students’ afterschool experiences and
related professional pathways.
Not as evident in our example is the articulation of evidence-based reasoning.
However, we posit that its use may be implicit in the evolution of the increasingly
optimized as well as aesthetically embellished marble machine. Where evidence-­
based argumentation is seen as a key aspect of STEM practices, in the context of
making, the ways in which productive strategies for getting objects to work are
taken up by others could perhaps represent an implicit form of scientific argumenta-
tion. Our example of Stephan adopting the method to lining tracks with fabric might
suggest that he accepted this “solution” as a better strategy than others to slow down
the marble. More specifically, it suggests that Stephan accepted the implicit “argu-
ment” that rough materials could create friction that would reduce the marble’s
velocity. On this view, hacking the ideas of others might serve as an active, embod-
ied form of argumentation. This implicit understanding could be made explicit
through the guidance of the afterschool educator.
Purposeful Pursuits: Leveraging the Epistemic Practices of the Arts and Sciences 31

3.2  E
 xample 2 – STEAMY Science Engagement at a Music
Festival

Based in London and New York, Guerilla Science offers public engagement with
science events that target young adults. They do this primarily through arts events
(e.g., concerts, exhibitions) that feature scientific phenomena or through science
events (e.g., interactive talks, hands-on activities) held at music, arts, or street festi-
vals. In their science communication activities, the program draws from theatrical
practices of cabaret, alternative comedy, and masquerade to stimulate curiosity and
immerse their audience in a kind of “figured world” where the nature of scientific
questions, evidence, and knowledge is explored and made concrete. At a camping
music festival targeting young adults, these immersive and interactive engagements
with scientists address topics such as the science of sexual attraction, the role of
celebrity in social behavior, knowing your biome, or the effects of psychedelic
drugs on the brain. Both in their choices of topics and in the high production quality
of their presentations, Guerilla Science signals to its audience that science is a jour-
ney, and it invites audiences to learn about and join this journey.
An example of how Guerilla Science interweaves arts and science practices in
the festival format comes from the fourth day of a music festival held over a long
weekend in the English countryside. A scientist, wearing a mini dress, striped stock-
ings, and a bowler hat—i.e., looking like the other festival goers (and indeed she had
spent 3 days camping out at the festival)—introduced herself to the 100 or more
people draped about the lounge chairs in the performance tent.
I am a psychology researcher—a psychology lecturer—at the University of [X]. And I am
also really passionate about dreaming. And I do my academic research on dreaming. So I
am what they call an “oneirologist,” which comes from the Greek word oenirus, which
means dream. And I am also an oneironaut, which means I am a dream explorer or a dream
investigator or a dream traveller, something like that.

In the interactive presentation, creative production is largely the work of the scien-
tist drawing on elements of dramatic narrative to create a sense of intimacy with the
audience that invites them into the social and cultural world of science. In this pre-
sentation about the science of lucid dreaming, the dream researcher’s scientific nar-
rative integrated personal descriptions of her own lucid dreaming, including flying
to explore another planet or watching her face melt in the mirror. She described
compelling reasons for why lucid dreaming might be of interest to those in the tent,
including providing the opportunity to fly, to have sexual relations with people not
normally available (such as celebrities), to improve one’s musical skills through
practice drills in one’s sleep, or to engage in psychic and even physical healing.
Thus, through interweaving personally relevant connections with the story of how
lucid dreaming was being pursued as a scientific process, she engaged the audience
in how questions of relevance guide processes of scientific inquiry.
Scientists who work with Guerilla Science typically stress the tentative, emerg-
ing, contested, and socially relevant nature of the scientific enterprise:
32 B. Bevan et al.

It may surprise those of you that are lucid dreamers that it wasn’t until about 50 years ago
that the scientific community actually agreed that it was a real phenomenon. … [Until then
it] was viewed very skeptically almost like fringe science, like pre-cognitive dreams or
tarot, or these kind of what’s considered New Age things. But somebody developed a really
ingenious way to show, beyond doubt, that lucid dreams are a real phenomenon. …They got
[a group of lucid dreamers] to go sleep in the Lab. They were hooked up to EEG machines,
which means that they’re measuring their brain wave activity on the scalp. They were also
hooked up to EOG, so you could measure the activity of the eyes. And EMG, which is
measuring the activity of the muscles, which is usually on the chin. And the reason that’s
important is that because using the brain waves and the muscle activity we can tell when
somebody is in rapid eye movement sleep [or deep asleep]. [Using these machines, the
scientists were able to capture a] signal that [the lucid dreamers had agreed they] would
show them to indicate that they were … [both asleep and also] lucid dreaming, [by moving]
their eyes in [a] deliberate way that show[ed] that they were [both asleep and aware that
they were asleep because they were in a dream].

The scientist presented and described data representing eye movement of an awake
and a sleeping person. She resumed her description of the experiment:
… The brain wave activity was showing beyond doubt that they were asleep. And the mus-
cle paralysis was showing that they were asleep. [But the agreed upon eye movement signal
also showed that they were conscious in their dreams: They were lucid dreaming.] So
50 years ago they were able to prove that lucid dreaming is a real phenomenon and that’s
when the research really started to take off.

After describing further benefits of lucid dreaming, she closed her account with the
following description of the tentative and contested nature of scientific knowledge:
…Finding out the kind of outer limits of what our imaginations can do, which is what we
can do with lucid dream research, is a worthy thing to do and needs to be researched… And
the last thing I am going to mention is pre-cognition. There are some researchers that think
that precognitive dreams are most likely to happen, if they exist, in lucid dreams. So a pre-
cognitive dream is when you can foretell the future in a dream. And a lot of people, many
many people, think that they have these kind of dreams. It’s very controversial in the scien-
tific world because a lot of people have found very good evidence that they do exist and a
lot of people have found evidence that they don’t. So it’s kind of—we’re undecided.

In her 15-min narrative, she thus invited the audience to hear about and care about
how scientists employ the epistemic practices of science, including developing a
question, designing a valid experiment, engaging in evidence-based reasoning. She
then engaged them in an activity to induce hypnagogic sleep—a state of dreaming
while still awake—essentially turning the audience’s own bodies into experimental
apparatus to explore some of the ideas she had presented. Afterward, the audience
engaged in a sense-making process, where they informally shared the results of
their attempts to hypnagogically dream, and asked additional questions relevant to
dreaming and lucid dreaming.
This art-and-science event—leveraging the fantastical and transgressive aspects
of a cabaret ethos at a music festival, while engaging the audience with current sci-
ence—integrated hybridized STEAM practices in several ways. Science is
both wondrous (e.g., enabling flying through lucid dreaming) and evidence-based,
as illustrated through the laboratory experiment described by the scientist. This jux-
taposition operates to trigger an emotional openness that can enhance audience
Purposeful Pursuits: Leveraging the Epistemic Practices of the Arts and Sciences 33

engagement with scientific explanations. Her presentation used multiple modalities:

a “lecture” provided by a scientific authority, followed by an invitation to each audi-
ence member to engage in an embodied experimentation around hypnagogic sleep.
Critique was supported through audience members sharing their hypnagogic experi-
ences, or lack thereof. Moreover, the performative presence of the scientist—who
seamlessly connected her familiar everyday interests in one’s dreams with a larger
enterprise of scientific investigations of dreaming, i.e., who clearly communicated
the relevance and social nature of science—created the invitation to consider how
scientists use evidence to advance understanding, as well as the contested and
emerging nature of knowledge in science, i.e., the centrality of a critical stance.

4  Conclusions

As our two examples show, epistemic practices are interwoven, rather than sequen-
tial. In Making, designing solutions occur as materials are explored, and the materi-
als themselves prompt aesthetic goals which create new engineering constraints. In
the Guerilla Science case, audiences are invited to see the use and value of experi-
mental design, drawn in by the personal passions of the scientist for a subject
(dreaming) that is available and meaningful to everybody in the tent.
We are only beginning to explore these connections and expect to elaborate the
conjectures shown in Table 1, to add new conjectured practices, and possibly to find
that some are either rare or difficult to enact in authentic ways. For example, while
critique is a regular part of arts education programs, engaging in scientific argumen-
tation is rare in many science education programs. Yet, bringing critique to science
learning promises to open a door not only onto “what constitutes the best evidence”
as descried by the NRC (2012b), but also to the possibilities for developing a critical
stance toward the culture of science and its history of power, especially with mar-
ginalized communities, thus addressing a gap some scholars have noted in current
science reform efforts (see Philip and Azevedo 2017). Our Making example pro-
vided above suggests that perhaps in a STEAM context there is a kind of embodied
critique—the evaluation and adoption, adaptation, or hacking of techniques or ideas
from others as representing a consideration of alternatives and the utility or vibrancy
of one approach over another. In this sense, critique may be embodied through
choices that build on convincing approaches, rather than explicit production and
consideration of evidence. In the context of the Guerilla Science presentation, the
cabaret-like setting and mode of presentation is designed to upend normative power
structures and expectations. The resulting dissonance, or suspension of quotidian
patterns of interaction, opens up the contested nature of science in ways rarely avail-
able in most mainstream media accounts or school classrooms.
Adopting a critical stance in science is a significant step forward for efforts to
address broadening participation in STEM.  But to fully realize the potential of
STEAM to advance participation in STEM or the arts, it will be important for
STEAM educators to explicitly relate program activities and practices to relevant
34 B. Bevan et al.

careers, academic pursuits, and other community-learning opportunities where such

practices are valued. Brokering opportunities for young people to recognize and
take up these opportunities is as important as providing them the initial chance to
develop them.
Finally, a focus on epistemic practices may support critical reflection on the part
of STEAM educators, which is key to advancing the field of STEAM education. In
designing, implementing, and assessing programs, educators can probe the extent to
which their programs engage learners in ways of knowing. Drawing on student
work examples, video or written vignettes, or other forms of data, educators can
reflect on whether or not “art” has operated as a token part of their science program,
or vice versa. If deeper learning emerges through engaging in epistemic practices,
reflection guided by clarity about what those practices look like can elucidate
whether their programs are truly hybridized forms of STEAM, or rather token forms
of integration. Educators can be challenged to design for and demonstrate how stu-
dent experiences in producing knowledge or representations of ideas and insights
result through the integrated nature of STEAM practices.
Thus, theorizing the epistemic practices of STEAM may provide educators with
a tool for articulating as well as improving practice, leading to a fuller realization of
what STEAM can mean for creating purposeful and agentive learning.

Acknowledgements  This work was supported by the National Science Foundation 1647150 and
the Wellcome Trust. The Sunshine Public School study was supported by the National Science
Foundation 162365 and the Overdeck Foundation. The data reported in this work were collected
by the field team of Exploratorium researchers, Dr. Jean J. Ryoo and Nicole Bulalacao. Opinions
and findings reported in this work do not reflect the views of the funders.

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Bronwyn Bevan  is Senior Research Scientist at the University

of Washington. She is the Principal Investigator of the
Research+Practice Collaboratory, and Co-Principal Investigator
of the Center for the Advancement of Informal STEM Education.
She also leads a pilot professional development program for mid-
career public engagement with STEM professionals whose work
focuses on broadening participation in STEM.  Her research
examines how learning opportunities, across formal and informal
settings, can be organized to advance equity in education. She
served on the National Research Council’s Committee on Out-of-
School Time STEM Learning and is on the editorial board of
Science Education.

Kylie Peppler  an artist by training, engages in research that

focuses on the intersection of arts, technology, and interest-driven
learning. As Director of the Creativity Labs at University  of
California Irvine ([Link]), Peppler brings
together educators, designers, artists, and learning theorists inter-
ested in constructionist and hands-on, design-based learning. A
primary focus of this work is on an emerging community of mak-
ers creating computational textiles (or e-textiles)—textile arti-
facts that are computationally generated or that contain embedded
computers, like the LilyPad Arduino—which capture youth’s pre-
existing interests in new media, fashion, and design while sup-
porting learning and creativity in computer science, arts, design,
and engineering.
Purposeful Pursuits: Leveraging the Epistemic Practices of the Arts and Sciences 37

Mark Rosin  is an associate  professor of mathematics at the

Pratt Institute of Art and Design.  He is co-founder of Guerilla
Science International, an international science and society organi-
zation, and director of Guerilla Science US. His research focuses
on problems in applied mathematics, and the connections between
science, art, and culture. He is the winner of the Early Career
Award for Public Engagement with Science from the American
Association for the Advancement of Science and is an Ashoka
Foundation Emerging Innovator. Mark has worked at the
University of California, Los Angeles, and received his Ph.D. from
the University of Cambridge. His work with Guerilla Science has
been featured in the New Yorker, the New York Times, and in
VICE, and he has been supported by the National Science
Foundation, the Smithsonian, Wellcome Trust, Simons
Foundation, NASA, and Burning Man.

Lynn Scarff  was the Director of Science Gallery Dublin. She

has extensive experience in developing and leading public
engagement projects in science, arts, and education fields. Lynn
comes from a background of work in the environmental and not-
for-profit sectors and has developed a series of programs, exhibi-
tions, events, books, TV, and radio for these areas. Beginning her
role in Science Gallery as the Education and Outreach Manager,
Lynn has been involved since its inception. She is passionate
about science and arts and the potential of spaces like Science
Gallery to be facilitators of transformation in people’s lives. Since
2018, she has served as the director of the National Museum of
Ireland and is actively expanding her e­xperience of cultural
spaces as accelerators of transformative experiences.

Elisabeth (Lissa) Soep  is Senior Editor and Founding Director

of the Research and Innovation Lab at YR Media, a youth-driven
production company and national network of next-generation sto-
rytelling. The YR Media stories Lissa has produced have appeared
on NPR, The New York Times, and Teen Vogue and been recog-
nized with honors, including two Peabody Awards, three Murrow
Awards, an Investigative Reporters and Editors Award, and the
Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. With a Ph.D. from Stanford
University’s School of Education, Lissa has written about digital
media and learning for academic journals, popular outlets, and
books, including Youthscapes (with Maira, UPenn Press), Drop
that Knowledge (with Chávez, UC Press), and Participatory
Politics (MIT Press). With Asha Richardson, she co-­founded YR
Media’s Innovation Lab, now an NSF-backed partnership with
MIT and Cornell Tech. In 2011, she became one of six members
of the MacArthur Foundation’s Youth and Participatory Politics
Research Network, which explores how young people use digital
and social media to express civic voice and agency. Lissa also
served more than 10 years on the Board of Directors of the United
States’ premier youth poetry organization, Youth Speaks (HBO
series, 2009 & 2010).
38 B. Bevan et al.

Jen Wong  is co-founder of Guerilla Science International  and

Director of Guerilla Science  UK, and Head of Programming at
Science Gallery London. Jen uses her background in science
communication, exhibition curation, and event production to cre-
ate participatory experiences that sit across science, culture,
engagement, and media platforms. She has previously worked for
a range of national museums and scientific organizations, includ-
ing the Dana Centre, Science Museum, and Natural History
Museum, and a wide range of cultural clients from Selfridges and
Secret Cinema to Wellcome Collection and Glastonbury Festival.
She works with both artists and scientists to deliver participatory
art/science collaborations that place audiences at the center of the
story. Jen has a degree in Natural Sciences, and an [Link]. in
History & Philosophy of Science.
Investigating the Complexity of Developing
STEAM Curricula for K-8 Students

Danielle Herro and Cassie Quigley

1  C
 onceptualizing STEAM: How Do We Avoid Repeating
the Past?

To date, STEAM teaching is not well understood. In fact, the difficulty in moving
forward with STEAM instruction, for many educators, parallels issues that continue
to plague STEM. Many teachers wonder what is and what is not considered STEAM,
and experience challenges when shifting instructional models to support discipline
expertise and integrated curriculum (Portz 2015). Williams (2011) describes how
elementary curricula often favors teaching science over technology, and secondary
school curricula attend to each discipline from an academic rather than practical
focus (i.e., connected to the real world). He suggests that educators need a sound
rationale for “why” and “how” integrating various disciplines will lead to quality
learning outcomes for students. Advocates suggest that broadening STEM by incor-
porating the “A” to encompass the arts and humanities in STEM instruction has the
potential to reach a wider and more diverse range of young learners (Bequette and
Bequette 2012). STEAM is intended to appeal to learners who might be interested
in creative, human-centered, and humanitarian ways of thinking about problem-­
solving through learning-by-doing (Boy 2013). However, it is not clear how STEAM
perspectives might translate into teaching practices, or even what declaring a class-
room or school as “STEAM” focused means. These conceptualization issues and
challenges can translate into poorly designed STEAM curricula or relegating
STEAM problem-solving to afterschool or specialized programs that may or may
not appeal to broad, diverse populations of students. Further complicating the issue
is that predictive reports and classroom examples often conflate STEAM instruction
with a makerspace, fablab, or grand challenge. These spaces and challenges can

D. Herro (*) · C. Quigley

Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA
e-mail: dherro@[Link]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 39

A. J. Stewart et al. (eds.), Converting STEM into STEAM Programs,
Environmental Discourses in Science Education 5,
[Link]
40 D. Herro and C. Quigley

augment STEAM instruction, but in themselves are really more or less STEAM
incubators or activities. To that end, our research-based practices led us to conclude
that all of these ideas are valuable in conceptualizing and enacting STEAM instruc-
tion in classrooms, but only one part of effective STEAM instruction. Like other
instructional ideas, STEAM needs a framework to focus its design that adheres to
principles for offering more equitable opportunities, in essence more appealing cur-
ricular opportunities that resonate with young learners. This chapter offers a win-
dow into how this might be achieved in K-8 classrooms.

2  Positioning Our STEAM Work

Our work on this project began in 2013, with a request from a large, local school
district wishing to understand and successfully offer STEAM instruction. Over the
next 5 years, we expanded our research project and conducted a longitudinal quali-
tative study on STEAM professional development (PD), teachers’ implementation
practices, and students’ collaboration when solving STEAM problems. During this
time more than 100  K-8 teachers, from various grade levels and subject areas,
including science, math, English-language arts, art, music, and physical education,
participated in intensive STEAM PD, and nearly half of these teachers allowed us
into their classrooms to observe their STEAM teaching in action. The teachers all
work in public schools in the Southeast USA serving rural, suburban, and urban
students. Throughout each phase of the research, we collected data in the form of
teachers’ reflective journals, classroom observations, individual and focus group
interviews, video data, and surveys. For this chapter, we focus on the teacher PD
aspect, and how it informed the creation of a conceptual model, which subsequently
guided teachers to create STEAM unit plans. We then focus specifically on two
examples of teachers—one elementary and one middle school—who designed
STEAM curricula to understand the complexity of creating relevant, problem-based
scenarios, how they approached transdisciplinary teaching, ways they included the
arts and humanities, and techniques for offering meaningful technology integration.
We also discuss challenges these teachers faced when negotiating standards and
assessment in rigid school environments.

3  P
 rofessional Development to Inform STEAM Unit
Creation

When we began this project in 2013, there was very little research on STEAM prac-
tices (Henriksen 2014), and only a few predictive reports detailing the potential of
STEAM curricula for engagement and learning (Johnson et al. 2015). Consistent
with the literature, the teachers we interacted with were either new to STEAM (and
Investigating the Complexity of Developing STEAM Curricula for K-8 Students 41

in some cases, STEM) or using existing STEM models and attempting to “add on”
experiences with the arts or humanities that did not appear relevant or engaging
(Kim and Park 2012). For instance, teachers would ask students to propose an
invention that might solve an imaginary problem, or draw a poster that depicted a
scientific solution, or create a kite out of straws, paper, and tape that could actually
fly. In fact, most teachers noted in our pre-surveys that STEAM “meant that the arts
were included, but they weren’t exactly sure how.”
To address this problem, we created an intensive 50-h PD session after thor-
oughly reviewing the existing research on both STEM and STEAM education. We
then delved into what STEAM might look like, based on predictive reports and
classroom examples. We noted common themes in the literature and examples that
included transdisciplinary teaching, problem-solving, technology integration, atten-
tion to the arts and humanities (including social justice issues), and student-centered
collaborative work. These ideas and our work as former science and technology
teachers with experience in project-based learning (for an understanding of how
project-based learning and STEAM connect, see Gary Ubben’s chapters in this
book) and technology integration in K-12 guided our first PD. The literature and our
former work also assisted us in creating a STEAM conceptual model (Fig.  1;
Quigley et al. 2017) that was iteratively refined throughout our research. During the
PD, teachers created STEAM units after participating as students in solving a
STEAM problem using collaborative and interactive technologies (e.g., Google
Docs/Forms, Presentations, Adobe Spark videos, and Infographics) that was embed-
ded in a larger unit. The STEAM unit was aligned with the conceptual model and
served as a template for teachers to then create their own units to be implemented in
their classrooms during the fall and spring semesters. The resulting units included a
problem scenario aligned with real-world practices, a driving question, standards
alignment, and daily activities in which elements of STEAM and technology-­
enabled learning was to be presented to students.
After operating the 50-h PD session, we reviewed the teacher-created units and
provided extensive feedback to guide them as they revised and implemented their
units. We observed the teachers at least twice during each semester while they
taught their STEAM units (see Quigley and Herro (2016) for additional example
units). During the classroom implementations, teachers reflected on their instruc-
tional practices weekly, completed a peer observation of other STEAM teachers’
instruction, and met with us to discuss their progress. We also hosted two short,
follow-up PD sessions to share practices and increase understanding of STEAM
teaching among colleagues. Generally, the initial research (see Herro and Quigley
2016) conducted on the teachers’ understanding of STEAM instructional practices
demonstrated the following: (1) before the PD, STEAM was not well conceptual-
ized by teachers; (2) problem-based1 learning and collaborative technologies greatly

1
 We acknowledge the differences between problem-based and project-based learning. We agree
with Ubben’s notion that the difference is project-based learning often surrounds a challenge and
a product/project at the end. The similarities include a focus on the process in both instances. For
our work, we focused on problem-based learning to allow for the absence of a project/product.
42 D. Herro and C. Quigley

Fig. 1  STEAM education conceptual modele

assisted teachers in understanding STEAM principles and learning content, but

understanding how to effectively incorporate the “A” remained challenging; (3)
most teachers felt successful at creating and teaching STEAM units posing relevant,
local problems using problem-based instruction; and (4) teachers used technology
for instruction and assessment far more than facilitating students’ collaboration and
media creation.
In the next sections, we provide an overview of the STEAM conceptual model
and discuss the importance of scenario-based teaching to position the two examples
we deconstruct in this chapter.

4  A STEAM Education Conceptual Model

To create this model, we analyzed data from teachers who effectively and systemati-
cally enacted STEAM-based curricula (for details on how this model was devel-
oped, see Quigley et al. 2017). We also tested this model in vivo to refine it based on
Investigating the Complexity of Developing STEAM Curricula for K-8 Students 43

the realities of schooling. This conceptual model includes three dimensions that
focus on the components of instruction that engage students in STEAM education:
discipline integration, classroom environment, and problem-solving skills.
The first dimension, discipline integration, is the way in which teachers connect
multiple disciplines or content areas through a problem-based unit. While the goal
of this STEAM model is transdisciplinarity, the model also looks at variances of
discipline integration (single content, multiple disciplines, and transdisciplinarity).
Our research found teachers were more readily able to integrate multiple disciplines
when they aligned the disciplines to the problem to be solved. Therefore, the attri-
butes in this dimension can be defined as multiple content areas and connected
ideas. In classrooms with a high level of discipline integration, the content selection
draws on different disciplines during problem solving by using expert knowledge,
multiple sources of information, and various concepts, theoretical approaches, or
methods.
The second dimension, classroom environment, examines the ways in which the
teachers structure the classroom environment to facilitate problem-solving. This
dimension includes a problem-based approach, authentic tasks, multiple methods to
solve the problem, student choice, technology integration, and teacher facilitation.
When teachers situate the task in a real-world event through a problem scenario, it
helps to make the problem and, by extension, the content more relevant to the stu-
dents. This dimension significantly informs practices teachers focus on during the
creation and enactment of STEAM curricula.
The third dimension, problem-solving skills, involves the ways in which teach-
ers support the development of students’ cognitive, interactive, and creative skills
through various instructional activities. These skills provide students with the
means to solve problems. During STEAM lessons, teachers support students in
developing higher-order skills, such as abstracting, analyzing, applying, formulat-
ing, collaborating, and interpreting; constructing explanations; engaging in argu-
mentation; disseminating evidence; and presenting. The conceptual model looks for
teachers to regularly provide opportunities for students to practice these skills in
multiple contexts. In this model, teachers encourage students to explore multiple
paths to solving a problem, which provides favorable conditions for sparking cre-
ativity or for exercising creative skills. These creative skills rely on a teacher’s abil-
ity to offer concepts, tools, and experiences in open-ended, problem-solving
scenarios. By using this conceptual model, the teachers design problem-solving
tasks and classroom environments to promote student-guided learning that relies on
peer support and collaboration. By developing problems that urge students to reach
out to peers for assistance and work collaboratively, teachers also encourage devel-
opmentally appropriate levels of social and emotional engagement in learning. In
this manner, our STEAM conceptual model is more than just a mashup combina-
tion of science, technology, engineering, arts, and math content; it defines an
instructional approach by which teachers inculcate a transdisciplinary perspective
on real-world problems.
44 D. Herro and C. Quigley

5  T
 he Importance of Scenario-Based Teaching in STEAM
Instruction: Examples from the Field

When thinking about the ways that teachers are able to successfully integrate the
dimensions of the conceptual model, we needed a way to support teachers in cur-
ricular design. Through this work, we found that scenario creation helped to provide
a platform for these instructional approaches. Scenario creation also provided the
teachers with a starting point to design the unit and daily lesson plans. Below are
two examples of these scenarios. In these two examples, however, we are careful to
view these as a starting point to the unit. Because one of the goals of STEAM is to
encourage multiple ways of solving a problem, students are encouraged to pursue
different pathways, and therefore the daily activities and final products can look
very different from the ideas proposed in the scenario. By intentionally crafting a
problem scenario, there should be attention specifically to the arts. One criticism of
STEAM is that art is still viewed as an add-on or an afterthought. However, during
scenario creation, we found that this provided teachers with an opportunity to
thoughtfully integrate the arts into the problem scenario.

5.1  Example 1: Birds of Prey

The third grade teachers of Parkview Elementary School used a local resource, the
Birds of Prey Center, as the backbone for their STEAM scenario. This center pro-
vided a real-world problem. Further, by leaning on an existing resource, the teach-
ers could construct a problem that naturally integrated the arts (music and visual as
well as English-language arts), science (understanding habitats), technology (3D
printing, presentation tools), engineering (designing and building), and math
(measuring).

6  Problem Scenario

The Birds of Prey Center has noticed an increase in the number of injured birds.
While the Center takes care of injured animals, they are concerned about why this
increase is happening. Recently they noticed injuries of mainly migratory birds that
have broken wings, have breathing problems, or are malnourished. This is concern-
ing because birds are high up in the food chain, and they also are good indicators of
the general state of biodiversity. When birds of prey start disappearing, it means that
something is wrong with our environment, and that we probably need to take action.
The Birds of Prey Center asked the Parkview Elementary School to help them figure
out this problem, and to come up with possible solutions.
Investigating the Complexity of Developing STEAM Curricula for K-8 Students 45

Driving question: How can we create an environment that protects and nurtures
native birds?

7  State Standards

7.1  Science

3.L.5 The student will demonstrate an understanding of how the characteristics and
changes in environments and habitats affect the diversity of organisms.
3.L.5.1 Obtain and communicate information to explain how changes in habitats
can be beneficial or harmful to the organisms that live there.

7.2  English-Language Arts

3-RI.5.1 Ask and answer literal and inferential questions to gain meaning of text or
topic.
3-C.3.2 Create presentations using video, photos, and other multimedia elements to
support communication and clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

7.3  Math

[Link].4 Generate data by measuring length to the nearest inch, half-inch, and
quarter-inch and organize the data in a line plot using a horizontal scale marked off
in appropriate units.
[Link].5 Understand the concept of area measurement.
(a) Recognize area as an attribute of plane figures.
(b) Measure area by building arrays and counting standard unit squares.
(c) Determine the area of a rectilinear polygon and relate to multiplication and
addition.

7.4  Visual Arts

Standard 6: The student will make connections between the visual arts and other
arts disciplines, other content areas, and the world.
46 D. Herro and C. Quigley

7.5  Music

Standard 2: The student will improvise, compose, and arrange music within speci-
fied guidelines.

8  Daily Activities

1. First, the students will watch a video about saving a bird that has a fishing line
stuck around its beak. The students will then be introduced to the problem sce-
nario. Then the students will discuss their observation of birds and record their
initial thoughts about birds. The teachers will have an informal bird learning
center set up with texts and resources so that students can use this center during
their daily center rotations.
2. Bird watching (3 days): Students will participate in bird watching using binocu-
lars and data recording tables noting shape, color, size, and behavior of the birds.
Several bird-watching experts will be coming to the classroom to share tips on
ways to bird-watch prior to the observation. After the observations, the students
will use resources to look up what the types of birds that they saw are.
3. Using the data from the bird-watching, the students will discuss the similarities
and differences of the birds as well as their habitat. The teacher will lead discus-
sions about the habitats of birds and what birds need to survive, tied to the sci-
ence standards. The students will make predictions about the problem of injured
birds.
4. The students will visit the Birds of Prey Center and conduct observations.
5. The students will participate in the Lego WeDo activity on extreme habitat. The
teacher will lead a discussion on the parallels between these habitats and the
areas around the state. The students will design a habitat that would suit a par-
ticular bird (of the students’ choosing).
6. Students will brainstorm ideas for solutions to the injured birds. In the

MakerSpace, students will design and build birdhouses. To do this, the teacher
will lead sessions on measurement aligned to the math standards. The students
will research designs for different types of birds. Building the birdhouses will
take 3–5 days.
7. In music, the students will create bird songs both based on their observations and
their research. They will discuss the ways in which bird songs are unique and
how they build communities. The students then will discuss the ways music
binds their community.
8. The students will read Charlotte’s Web together and discuss compassion and
empathy toward animals. The teacher will lead a discussion on how students are
compassionate about birds and what concerns them. Then they will discuss what
measures can be taken to ensure the conservation of raptors. Students brain-
storm; they create, collaboratively, ways to bring community awareness of Birds
Investigating the Complexity of Developing STEAM Curricula for K-8 Students 47

of Prey, through brochures, videos, etc. The students also will create 3-D prints
of prosthetics for severed parts of bird and structures that harmfully affect
raptors.
9. After the students have decided how they will increase awareness, they will cre-
ate this educational piece. The Birds of Prey Center will attend the final reveal
and will provide feedback to the students. The students will also participate in
peer review prior to this reveal.
Ongoing embedded assessment was aligned to the content standards through
group discussions as well as peer review of the final products (bird houses, educa-
tional materials, songs, and prosthetics). These peer reviews provide opportunities
for students to receive feedback; additionally the peer review provides the students
with the opportunity to practice giving productive feedback.

8.1  Example 2: DNA STEAM Unit

Audrey is a 7th-grade science teacher. She created a unit in which students were
asked to investigate transfer of genetic information through inheritance, and explore
how technology might influence this transfer. The unit is intended to address core
area standards for 7th graders in her home state, which include “Heredity—
Inheritance and Variation of Traits.” Her primary discipline expertise is in science,
but as noted in the scenario and truncated STEAM unit below, she extends the
learning to math, technology, engineering, English-language arts, graphic arts, and
the humanities through a transdisciplinary problem. This problem foregrounds the
issue and allows the disciplines to emerge naturally through the problem-solving
process.

9  Problem Scenario

[Link] reports that “having a twin sibling diagnosed with cancer poses
an excess risk for the other twin to develop any form of cancer” (2016). Miranda
and Alecia are 45-year-old identical twins. They were born and raised to wealthy,
educated parents in Chicago and lived at home until college. They continue to live
in the suburbs of that city and are still close. Recently, Alecia was diagnosed with
stage II breast cancer. She is currently undergoing treatment for the disease while
her sister Miranda remains healthy. How is this possible? Analysis of the family
traits shows that there is no history of breast cancer in the family, yet the general
practitioner claims Miranda is still at risk. You and your colleagues are internal
medicine doctors who practice in downtown Chicago. Miranda has come to your
practice for a second opinion on the clean (yet cautioning) diagnosis of being cancer
free. She has many questions about her prognosis and what she might do to lessen
48 D. Herro and C. Quigley

her chances of developing the disease. As a group, you must develop a presentation
to share with Miranda about your thoughts and suggestions to her as physicians. You
must also decide if your team deems it worthy to take a sample of Miranda’s DNA
to test it for the cancer gene and, if so, determine how you will convince her that the
benefits of this information outweigh the risks and cost. Your digital presentation
should include a slideshow of the main points your team wishes to discuss with
Miranda, including the cost of further studies. Since you are the expert, you have
also been charged with creating a digital pamphlet on breast cancer and a 3-D model
of DNA that you can show patients like Miranda while you discuss their genetic
information.

9.1  Driving Question

How does your DNA determine your risk of developing disease?

9.2  Elements of STEAM

Science: DNA, mutations, epigenetics.

Technology: digital presentation and digital pamphlet, 3-D model.
Engineering: design 3-D model, design solution/test DNA for cancer-causing genes.
Arts: design components of presentation, pamphlet and 3-D model; ethics issues
and ELA.
Mathematics: cost analysis of DNA testing.

10  State Standards

Standard 7.L.4: The student will demonstrate an understanding of how genetic

information is transferred from parent to offspring and how environmental factors
and the use of technologies influence the transfer of genetic information.
7.L.4A.1 Obtain and communicate information about the relationship between
genes and chromosomes to construct explanations of their relationship to inher-
ited characteristics.
7.L.4A.2 Construct explanations for how genetic information is transferred from
parent to offspring in organisms that reproduce sexually.
7.L.4A.3 Develop and use models (Punnett squares) to describe and predict patterns
of the inheritance of single genetic traits from parent to offspring (including
dominant and recessive traits, incomplete dominance, and co-dominance).
Investigating the Complexity of Developing STEAM Curricula for K-8 Students 49

7.L.4A.4 Use mathematical and computational thinking to predict the probability of

phenotypes and genotypes based on patterns of inheritance.
7.L.4A.5 Construct scientific arguments using evidence to support claims for how
changes in genes (mutations) may have beneficial, harmful, or neutral effects on
organisms.

11  Daily Activities

(90-min class periods)

1. Introduce the unit and have students choose groups; brainstorm questions to ask
via Google Classroom; Skype with an Expert (Dr. Harrison); begin research.
2. Continue research, share Google Docs with team and teacher for comments;
conduct science labs on DNA and mutation; Skype with another expert (Dr.
Decker); begin outline of presentations—determine what is to be included.
3. Finish research and begin developing presentations; begin designing DNA mol-
ecule using Google Draw and 3-D printer, post first draft of presentations on
Google Classroom for peer feedback.
4. Finish designing DNA molecules; begin cost analysis; begin creating pamphlet.
5. Draft a letter to the editor detailing the ethical issues of epigenetics related to
policy—including policies around environmental controls.
6. Finish pamphlets and have students provide peer feedback; complete cost analy-
sis and have groups embed it in their presentation.
7. Share presentations on Google Classroom and have students design peer feed-
back questions collected via Google Forms.
8. Begin debriefing and discussion of what new questions were raised throughout
the unit; have students create short reflections that addresses peer feedback and
changes they made.
Formative assessment was used throughout the duration of the project. The
teacher used Google Forms, Kahoot, and exit tickets, and she also asked questions
about the content students learned and their successes and struggles while complet-
ing tasks. As noted in the daily activities, the students critiqued their peers to offer
constructive feedback. The summative assessment included rubrics aligned to the
pamphlet and final presentation.

12  Discussion

Our discussion focuses on deconstructing STEAM units to understand how they

align the dimensions of the conceptual model, including offering relevant
problem-­based scenarios, transdisciplinary teaching, attending specifically to the
“A” in STEAM, and meaningful technology integration. We also want to point out
50 D. Herro and C. Quigley

challenges teachers faced, which generally included incorporating requisite stan-

dards, developing appropriate assessments, and, at times, addressing disciplines
outside of their expertise. Our goal is to increase understanding versus offering
generalizable evidence. However it is important to note that the units are abbre-
viated for this chapter, the full units were more detailed and included numerous
links to resources, rubrics, assessments and instructor created media. They are
also typical of what teachers created in a majority of classrooms after attend-
ing our PD.

13  Relevant, Problem-Based Scenarios

In the two examples above, the scenarios were intended to support students in car-
ing about the learning ahead by offering local, real-world issue appealing to their
developmental level. In the Birds of Prey unit, the elementary school was in close
proximity to the center, the organization visited the school annually to share protec-
tion and conservation efforts, the issue was authentic, and young students are gener-
ally interested in animals. Similarly, the DNA unit was involved in an actual news
story from a well-known city, using content (e.g., disease, genetics, ethical decision-­
making) that is fascinating for many teenagers as they become abstract thinkers. In
both of these units, the teachers capitalized on the interest of the students and rele-
vance to real-world problem-solving; the problem-solving had a purpose that stu-
dents could relate to.

14  Transdisciplinary Teaching

As evidenced in the Birds of Prey and DNA examples, science, technology, arts/
humanities, engineering, and math were all needed for solving both problems,
although not necessarily given equal time or weightage. This approach mirrors what
happens in the real world, as complex problems are being addressed. The teachers
in both examples were cognizant of requisite content and standards they were
expected to cover in their classrooms, and they used the standards to guide the initial
creation of the unit. However, they expanded the unit to focus on the problem-­
solving in a manner that allowed the disciplines to emerge more naturally. While
they were careful to develop a scenario that addressed as many disciplines as pos-
sible, the teachers approached writing and refining the scenario from two aspects:
(1) they were conscious of whether they had the expertise or could partner with
other teachers to assist teaching across disciplines and (2) they did not force disci-
pline integration, choosing instead to have the scenario dictate the skills necessary
to solve the problem.
Investigating the Complexity of Developing STEAM Curricula for K-8 Students 51

15  Including the Arts and Humanities

Through the purposeful design of the daily activities in the Birds of Prey example,
students were engaged in design, music, English-language arts, social justice and
digital media creation as they built birdhouses, created bird songs, read and com-
pared themes in Charlotte’s Web to address empathy and compassion and created
digital videos and brochures. In the DNA example, students participated in rich
discussions about ethics, used the media arts to create aesthetically pleasing presen-
tations and pamphlets and wrote persuasive letters. While not as apparent in these
units, a number of teachers we worked with often introduced STEAM units with
digital slideshows of images related to the problem at hand (e.g., local injured birds
being cared for, DNA helix art) and asked students to react to them. This technique
was also used to have students create thought-provoking visual presentations, and
this idea adheres closely to suggestions about artwork and images noted in
chapter  “Transgressing the Disciplines Using Science as a Meeting Place: The
Science, Art and Writing Initiative”, by Anne Osbourn. Her chapter notes the ability
to use theme and images as a starting point for science, art, and writing sessions.

16  Technology Integration

As demonstrated in both STEAM examples, teachers approached planning for tech-

nology in a student-centered manner, and students used technology for collabora-
tion, design, data collection, presentation, and other production-focused ways.
Teachers’ instructional use of technology often included showing videos, sharing
resources, and formative assessment, but the primary focus was having students cre-
ate with technology. In the Birds of Prey example, students used technology for
Lego WeDo construction, 3-D printing, and video creation. In the DNA example,
students used G Suite (formerly Google Apps for Education) Docs, Forms, Slides,
and Draw as part of the data-collection and collaborative problem-solving pro-
cesses. They also created videos and used design software before printing DNA
with the 3-D printer.

17  Challenges

As evidenced in the above examples, STEAM teaching is messy. Lecture-based

teaching, multiple-choice and written tests, and providing projects in which all
products “look the same” would clearly be easier to implement in classrooms. Thus,
STEAM teaching is not without its challenges. In particular, the teachers involved
in this research, and the many others we worked with, identify four major chal-
lenges when developing and implementing STEAM curricula: pacing/time
52 D. Herro and C. Quigley

c­ onstraints; student understanding of content or the STEAM process; issues relating

to planning and standards alignment; and difficulties adhering to district policies.
Implementing the two units described earlier in this chapter required flexibility
of pacing schedules, and both of the teachers reported it took time to align the pac-
ing and time to adhere to a management schedule that did not interfere with other
required instructional goals. They also mentioned that students who typically strug-
gled with understanding abstract or more complex processes or concepts often
needed additional guidance or assistance, although these teachers—and almost all
other teachers (approximately 80%) we worked with—reported a sharp decline in
behavior issues because student engagement was greater. Planning with other teach-
ers and aligning standards across disciplines was very challenging for these teach-
ers, and for most other teachers in our longitudinal study, for that matter. A total of
90% of our teachers discussed this issue at some point of the STEAM implementa-
tion. To that end, about 25% of the teachers suggested they did not have common
planning time or were limited in time to plan, while other teachers (about 15%)
mentioned that their colleagues did not want to co-plan or co-teach with them, limit-
ing their ability to use transdisciplinary teaching methods. District policies seldom
prevented teachers from enacting STEAM teaching, but policies such as adhering to
strict testing schedules, inflexible scheduling/strict pacing guides, and prohibitive
access to technology devices or websites often required creative workarounds.
Interestingly, integration of the arts/humanities was rarely considered a challenge
after writing scenarios in the initial PD (about 10% of teachers struggled with this),
but we often felt it was an area that needed better conceptualization and strengthen-
ing when we visited classrooms.
Our goal is that with this conceptualization, and a focus on curricular design, we
can assist teacher educators supporting teachers enacting STEAM. In this manner,
STEAM instruction can be less challenging and more rewarding for teachers and
their students. We argue that STEAM education can be a more powerful teaching
and learning approach as it encourages students to encounter and ask new questions,
sometimes taking them down a completely different line of inquiry. It also empha-
sizes important social justice or humanitarian elements by focusing on the arts and
humanities. Further, when compared to some STEM approaches, the transdisci-
plinary nature of foregrounding the problem to be solved versus the discipline “to
be covered” is more realistic and often more interesting to students. Our hope is to
impact teachers with a sound conceptual understanding of STEAM education to
guide their instructional practices—and most importantly to affect the students they
teach with opportunities for deeper learning.

References

Bequette, J. W., & Bequette, M. B. (2012). A place for art and design education in the STEM con-
versation. Art Education, 65(2), 40–47.
Boy, G. A. (2013, August). From STEM to STEAM: Toward a human-centered education, creativ-
ity & learning thinking. In Proceedings of the 31st European conference on cognitive ergonom-
ics (p. 3). ACM.
Investigating the Complexity of Developing STEAM Curricula for K-8 Students 53

Henriksen, D. (2014). Full STEAM ahead: Creativity in excellent STEM teaching practices. The
STEAM Journal, 1(2), Article 15. [Link]
Herro, D., & Quigley, C. (2016). Exploring teacher perceptions of STEAM: Implications for prac-
tice. Journal of Professional Development in Education, 43(3), 416–438. [Link]
80/19415257.2016.1205507.
Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Estrada, V., & Freeman, A. (2015). New Media Consortium (NMC)
horizon report: 2015 K-12 edition. Austin: The New Media Consortium.
Kim, Y., & Park, N. (2012). Development and application of STEAM teaching model based on the
rube Goldberg’s invention. In Computer science and its applications (pp. 693–698). Dordrecht:
Springer.
Portz, S. (2015). The challenges of STEM education. Proceedings of the 2015 (43rd) space con-
gress: A showcase of space, aviation, technology, logistics and manufacturing. Paper 3, 1–9.
Daytona Beach, Florida: Embry-RiddleAeronautical University-Digital Commons. Available
at [Link]/space-congress-proceedings/proceedings-2015-43rd/
Quigley, C., & Herro, D. (2016). Finding the joy in the unknown: Implementation of STEAM
teaching practices in middle school science and math classrooms. Journal of Science Education
and Technology, 25(3), 410–426. [Link]
Quigley, C., Herro, D., & Jamil, F. (2017). Developing a STEAM classroomassessment of learning
experiences. School Science & Mathematics, 117(1–2), 1–12.
Williams, J. (2011). STEM education: Proceed with caution. Design and Technology Education:
An International Journal, 16(1), 26–35.

Danielle Herro  is Associate Professor of Digital Media and

Learning at Clemson University. She teaches courses on social
media, games, and emerging technologies.
At Clemson, she co-designed and opened Digital Media and
Learning and Gaming Labs in the College of Education. Dani has
published numerous journal articles on the impact of bringing
game-based, mobile, and other digital media environments to
K–12 schools. Her current research interests focus on investigat-
ing the intersection of games, identity and social practices, and
the efficacy of teacher professional development toward integrat-
ing STEAM education.

Cassie Quigley  is Associate Professor of Science Education in

the Department of Teaching and Learning in the College of
Education at Clemson University. Her research focuses on broad-
ening the ideas of and participation in science so that all students
feel connected to science. Currently, she works with in-service
teachers on expanding their current pedagogical practices to
include equitable approaches.
We Need More (than) STEAM: Let’s
Go for Life-Wide and Lifelong Education

Wolff-Michael Roth

1  Introduction

The existence of this book testifies to the fact that there is a new kid on the
curriculum-­related block: STEAM.  It is but the latest innovation, of which there
have been many since I entered the field of science education. When I began teach-
ing in 1980, a year after having completed my MSc in physics, those at the forefront
of the field used science curricula developed with the aid of funding from the US
National Science Foundation later referred to as the alphabet curricula—the many
acronyms then current (e.g., SCIS [Science Curriculum Improvement Study], SAPA
[Science: A Process Approach], or IPS [Introductory Physical Sciences]) have all
but been forgotten. The integration of mathematics and science became of interest
in the 1980s and 1990s, followed in the post 2000 years by the integration of the
subject areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, now gathered
under the acronym of STEM.  Before that, science was to be integrated with the
social sciences in courses sometimes named “science in society” or something of
that ilk. In 2002, I was part of a group of scholars discussing (in the.
Canadian Journal of Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education) whether
science educators should approach teaching science through societal or citizenship
perspectives. At the time, I argued that nothing really changes with the change of a
curricular emphasis, as long as schooling itself does not change—plus ça change,
plus c’est la même chose. This is the reason for the first part of my chapter title: we
need more than STEAM, more than yet another presumably better mousetrap for
the perennial question of the curricular content and medium. We need more than
STEAM so that we do not run out of steam while trying to improve the education of
current and future generations. In my view, education should not be organized

W.-M. Roth (*)

University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
e-mail: mroth@[Link]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 55

A. J. Stewart et al. (eds.), Converting STEM into STEAM Programs,
Environmental Discourses in Science Education 5,
[Link]
56 W.-M. Roth

around subject matter in whichever combination. Instead, education needs to be a

life-wide and lifelong endeavor. Here, life-wide means that the subject matter areas
take their appropriate place in the life of the person as a whole—which may mean
that STEM or STEAM are at the bottom of the hierarchy of object/motives of a
person; and the person is continuously learning and developing, so the object or
motives important today may be of minor importance tomorrow.

2  A Brief History of Curriculum Evolution

In my own science classrooms in the 1980s, forms of mathematics were integrated

to help students analyze, interpret, and present data. Student groups prepared con-
tracts determining what they wanted to achieve over a one- or two-week period, and
then pursued accomplishing the goals they had set for themselves. A decade later,
upon my initiative, the school I worked at made available computers in the physics
laboratory so that students could use statistical software to find best-fit curves, or
statistically analyze or mathematically model the data; and they used the first calcu-
lators capable of plotting and analyzing data. In my first few years, I had all students
do the same experiments. But over the course of my first decade of teaching science,
I realized that students might not be interested in those experiments. Over time, I
increasingly asked students to design their own experiments within the confines of
the provincial curriculum. Thus, when the curriculum detailed 12 weeks to be spent
on the physics of motion, the students designed experiments on the topic of motion.
But it was completely up to them to determine the specific phenomenon they wanted
to research. Thus, for example, some students investigated the role of friction on the
speed and acceleration of moving vehicles by constructing vehicles of different
sizes or chose a series of objects of different shapes and then designed experiments
for measuring the variables they planned to investigate. By 1991, 10  years after
starting to teach, I had arrived at a point where the students used widely varying
means to learn curricular concepts. Thus, for example, in a unit on electricity, one
group of students in my junior year physics course did a series of experiments on
conductors, semiconductors, and superconductors: they organized everything, even
purchasing liquid nitrogen, renting the Dewar flask, and adjusting their school day
when they were doing the superconductor experiments (they had to do this because
the liquid nitrogen could not be stored long). Another group, interested in theater
arts, wrote the script for short plays to teach electrical concepts; for their evaluation,
they performed these pieces. A third group designed, wrote, and drew comic scripts
designed to teach those concepts that they themselves were learning. A fourth group
produced a series of curriculum materials to teach hands-on lessons to fifth graders;
they taught two lessons using their materials, and this lesson was part of their evalu-
ation. Across the three parallel classes that I taught during that year, there were still
other activities in which students engaged and in the course of which they learned
the pertinent concepts.
We Need More (than) STEAM: Let’s Go for Life-Wide and Lifelong Education 57

This approach was highly successful, and students appreciated being involved in
the curriculum design and being able to bring their own interests into the physics
lessons. There was more integration across the areas covered by the acronyms
STEM and STEAM. Students who investigated physical systems designed and built
the objects to be researched, always involving technological and engineering ques-
tions. In later years, when they became more widely available, computers always
were part of students’ projects, mathematical or statistical modeling, presentation
and design of their reports. Eventually, the arts became an integral part of the class-
room, too, as seen in the preceding example. Because I had students read philo-
sophical essays and books, and discussed these with them, this subject, too, was an
integral part. Importantly, no student was forced to draw on this or that discipline
included in the acronym STEAM.

3  Hitting on Some Wicked Problems of Schooling

Despite all of these advances over what the other teachers did in the schools where
I taught, I realized I had not yet gone far enough. Even though I did not have access
to the acronym, I realized that more than STEAM was needed. One of the wicked
problems of schooling lies in the gap between in-school life and out-of-school life,
where there are different required competencies, interests, and so on. Thus, for
example, in a research project that I conducted together with a high school student
on student epistemologies, we found that some of the high school students’ mun-
dane discourses “actively interfere with the curriculum offered by the formal educa-
tional setting” (Roth and Alexander 1997, p.  125). In our published article
(completed in 1992, while both of us were still teacher and student), we argued for
even more interdisciplinarity than is captured in STEAM: “There is a definite place
for a high school course in which science, religion, philosophy, arts and other sub-
jects are treated as parallel forms of inquiry towards the development of a ‘good
world’” (p. 143). We further suggested that “such a course needs to be truly inter-
disciplinary, in which no single discourse is privileged, such as in some ‘science in
society’ courses, where scientific discourses dominate at the expense of the social
and humanistic discourses” (p. 144).
Over more than a decade of teaching in middle and high schools, I have come to
realize that science needed to be part of a broader engagement of students in the
everyday world, and, I argued, “following Marx … that students (as philosophers
and science educators) have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is
to change it” (Roth 2002, p. 46). When I was writing those words, I was teaching,
for the third time, an experimental curriculum in a local middle school that I had
designed following my own call for deinstitutionalizing science education. My
hunch was that educators needed to do more than just make changes in curriculum
content, because education itself was the problem—built as an industrial model,
where students were prepared to contribute to a compliant workforce on assembly
58 W.-M. Roth

lines. The second wicked problem I had come to understand lies in the fact that
schooling is designed for producing grades and stratifying access to higher learning;
schools also produce dropouts, whose life possibilities are generally constrained
(Roth and McGinn 1997). Because engineering, agriculture, environmentalism,
medicine, and all the other activity systems have object/motives very different from
those of schooling, they demand very different “skills” and “competencies” to suc-
ceed. Studies show that (a) there is little correlation between number of or success
in high school courses (e.g., mathematics) and the competencies that people exhibit
in everyday life pursuits (e.g., Saxe 1991) and (b) in many professions, school
knowledge is not mobilized at work and work knowledge is not called for at school
(e.g., Roth 2014). I was suggesting that the Roman’s slogan Non scholae sed vitae
discimus was not enough, for the studying still occurred for school, and therefore
was geared toward obtaining grades rather than toward changing the world and
learning by expanding ones agency.
What may be an even more wicked problem is the rapidly changing world. The
wicked problems of today and even more the wicked problems of tomorrow do not
require some fixed scientific literacy, whether taught within the scope of STEM or
STEAM. Rather, what we need for the future are “competencies in creating ever
new forms of literacies that are suited to deal with the ever-new forms of problems
scientific and technological ‘advances’ generate” (Roth 2007, p. 396). I also argued
that in the face of controversies, we need citizens who can take a critical and ethical-­
moral stance against STEM personnel over controversial issues when scientists
themselves do not do it or cannot do it because of the interests of the company they
work for. Some issues that are controversial in some but less controversial in other
countries include the production and (unlabeled) sale of genetically modified organ-
isms (e.g., “Frankenfood”), the unfettered use of herbicides and fungicides that are
damaging the environment (e.g., neonicotinoids and bees), the production of harm-
ful consumer goods (e.g., cigarettes), or the creations of the pharmaceutical industry
that often do more harm than good (e.g., thalidomide). The list can be extended.
Even if a substance is legal, education should at a minimum enable students to ask,
for example, (a) Why some countries ban a substance whereas another permits its
use? or (b) Why do some companies legally export substances that are banned in the
countries where they are headquartered?

4  A
 n Example of How to Address the Wicked Problem
of Schooling

Wicked problems require thinking outside of the box. My particular position on

schooling likely is due to the fact that I am not a science or mathematics educator
and that I conducted much research on (situated) cognition outside of schools, in
leisure, workplace, and political settings. Two competencies for being successful in
We Need More (than) STEAM: Let’s Go for Life-Wide and Lifelong Education 59

the face of wicked problems turn out to be especially important (Roth and van Eijck
2010): (a) the ability to work with people of very different competencies and levels
of expertise (e.g., lawyers, scientists, politicians, public stakeholders) and (b)
debrouillardise (defining and getting out of the problems) and competent bricolage
(making do with available resources). Over the course of a 3-year span, I taught
three iterations of a course where middle school students (seventh grade, 12 years)
participated, in one or another way, in the environmental issues of their
municipality.
The course I taught got students to work with the environmental group rather
than focusing on and discussing scenarios and case studies already prepared.
Because this approach involves students in real-world issues I have previously
argued that it differs from curricula attending to socio-scientific issues or consensus
projects models that tend to deal with prepared scenarios (Roth 2002). We began
with something like the visit of an environmentalist to the class, or with the reading
of an article in the local newspaper focusing on the health of the watershed and the
activities of the environmental group. The political boundaries of my municipality
by and large fall together with two watersheds, the more important one of which
goes by the name of Hagan Creek/ḰENES (the indigenous name meaning “whale,”
because of the whales that used to feed near the mouth of the creek). The municipal-
ity itself is semirural, with more densely populated settlements and areas zoned
agricultural. This is especially the case for the lower reaches of the creek, where
farms and a largely wooded indigenous reserve dominate the landscape (Fig. 1). In
other areas, the impacts on the land that began with the white settlers is conspicu-
ous. For example, there used to be wetlands (Maber Flats) where the indigenous
peoples hunted for birds and small game. But the settlers created a system of ditches,
culverts, berms, and a weir, and the creek was made an integral part to move the
water away to create arable land (Fig. 2b)—though nature periodically returns and
floods Maber Flats (Fig. 2a). Nearby industries used to release their wastewaters
into one of these ditches and thus contributed various heavy metals to the water-
shed—leading to the name Stinky Ditch for one of them (Fig. 2b). Despite nearly
20 years of continuing environmental efforts in the watershed, Maber Flats remains
in the news because, after 70 years of agriculture, flooding has increased. There is
an effort now to create a lake to better manage the water; other efforts focus on
creating a nature reserve because, according to the region’s community green map,
it already supports various charismatic species, including peregrine falcons, bald
eagles, northern harriers, and short-eared owls.
The health of the Hagan Creek watershed, the quality and quantity of water, and
the ecological and human well-being clearly are important issues in this community,
and they are addressed in a variety of public forums. Integrating student learning
and development in environmental issues was the centerpiece of funded research
program aptly entitled “Learning in Heterogeneous and Overlapping Knowledge-­
Building Communities.”
60 W.-M. Roth

Fig. 1  Almost the entire lower part of the watershed, Mount Newton Valley, is zoned “Agricultural
Land Reserve.” The forest center left is part of a First Nation community

Fig. 2 (a) Part of the contested Maber Flats, which some farmers want to drain whereas environ-
mental groups seek to preserve as wetlands. (b) During colonization, ditches, culverts, berms, and
a weir were used to drain the wetlands that were a main source of food for the indigenous peoples
in the area. “Stinky Ditch” (shown on the right) also previously received effluents from an indus-
trial area near the horizon
We Need More (than) STEAM: Let’s Go for Life-Wide and Lifelong Education 61

Through this program, we encouraged students to engage with watershed issues

on their own terms and according to their own interests, choosing data-collection
methods and representational tools that best fit their interests and needs. There were
student groups, often boys, conducting studies on the physical characteristics of
water flow; some groups focused on sampling organisms that lived in the creek;
other groups focused their efforts on plant and animal life in riparian areas. A group
of students, under the watchful eyes of a water technician, contributed to building
water-oxygenating riffles and to monitoring changes in the number of macroinver-
tebrate organisms (Fig. 3). Particularly girls and indigenous students, who felt dis-
enfranchised by the traditional approach to science that they had experienced in the
past, preferred to generate different forms of knowledge such as through films, nar-
ratives, photographs, and interviews. For example, an indigenous student had been
completely disengaged in his regular school classes, as were many of his peers from
the reserve. He did not want to do science in the way others did. Instead, he declared
an interest in using a film camera to document what his classmates were doing. We
gave him one of our research cameras and suggested that he might want to conduct
interviews as well (Fig. 4). Our overall endeavour was greatly enhanced because
parents, aboriginal elders, scientists, graduate students, and other residents of the
municipality joined these efforts, supervising and coaching the students. De facto,
this led to an interpenetration of school and village life.

Fig. 3  This photo, which stitches together two shots of the panning camera, features students who
contributed to the watershed-related efforts by working with a water technician of a local farm (far
right) to construct riffles that oxygenate the water in the creek and to monitor the abundances of
aquatic macroinvertebrates
62 W.-M. Roth

Fig. 4  One student of indigenous origins did not want to contribute to the environmental efforts,
but chose instead to make a documentary. This image was stitched together from several parts of a
video recording that was panning from an interviewed student to the study area that her group
(lower left) investigated

In the end, many individuals and groups participated in the open-house event
organized by the environmental group near the end of the respective school year.
Jamie was particularly taken by the spectrophotometer used to determine the turbid-
ity of water, an instrument that also included the capability to measure other vari-
ables. At the open-house event, he showed visitors how to use it, using in his
demonstration some samples he had prepared previously (Fig. 5a). The students’
stands were spread out among those of other contributors, which included a graph
produced by a strip-chart recorder that mapped the water levels in the creek and to
which rainfall events were added (Fig.  5b). The water technician of a local farm
responsible for the graph explained to interested visitors the annual characteristics
of the water flow through the watershed.
Michelle and her group mates had not been interested in “sciency” experiments
that many of the male students conducted—e.g., on the relationship between param-
eters of stream profile and water velocity. Instead, the young women had decided to
produce a report, including photographs, the results of interviews, and their verbal
descriptions of the environment, which they recorded on a tape recorder. Their inter-
views included dignitaries, such as indigenous elders and the mayor, and local folk.
In the end, they produced a poster to present the results of their work during the
open-house event (Fig. 5c). We noticed that there were several pages of written text,
in addition to the photographs. We know from independent interviews conducted a
year later that the curricular unit had a tremendous impact on the women—to great
extent because they were allowed to choose their ways of engaging with creek-­
related issues rather than being forced to do the same tasks that are characteristic of
school classes. Moreover, they were particularly interested in the creative aspects,
both doing something that “nobody else is doing” and in producing particularly
interesting displays for the open house. They did so even though they were not
enrolled in a course or program named STEAM, and even though nobody told them
that they had to integrate the arts into science or the reverse.
One of the remarkable students was Davie. I could see how he behaved in other
subjects in ways that were consistent with the learning disability label that the
school system had stuck to him. When assigned some graphing task, he spent less
We Need More (than) STEAM: Let’s Go for Life-Wide and Lifelong Education 63

Fig. 5  Video images from an open-house event where the students presented the result of their
contributions at open-house events organized by an environmental group. (a) Jamie shows an adult
visitor how to use the spectrophotometer to test the water for turbidity (cloudiness). (b) A water
technician talks about the graphs generated from data collected on her employer’s farm, featuring
amounts of rainfall and water levels in the creek. (c) Michelle had interviewed local politicians and
elders, taken photographs, and written reports on the state of different parts of the creeks and con-
tributors. (d) Stevie (right) teaches a child about the watershed using a model that he built as part
of his project, whereas Davie (background) reorganizes the microscope and other materials that he
used as part of his demonstration

than 18% of the designated time on the task (which he did not solve) and the remain-
der in talking to others, walking around the classroom, and in other “off-task” man-
ners. That same Davie, on the other hand, was highly engaged in the experimental
curriculum. He studied relationships, such as that between water speed and the
abundance of different invertebrates; and he represented these relationships in types
of graphs that he did not produce for his mathematics teacher—for lack of want,
interest, capability, or any other reason we might discern. More so, when I was look-
ing for students interested in joining me to get another class enrolled in the same
program, Davie was the first to raise his hand. Not only did he present what he and
his classmates had done, but also he assisted the teacher of this class familiarize
herself with pertinent issues in teaching such a unit. When we were looking for
students to assist us with teaching this second class by becoming a chaperon of a
student group, Davie was again the first student to sign up. He supervised not just
one but indeed two groups of students while they were doing their research in and
64 W.-M. Roth

along the creek. Readers will already have anticipated that Davie was also part of
the open-house event, where he operated an exhibition on identifying macroinverte-
brates (Fig. 5d). He showed visitors how to operate the microscope, helped them
identify the key features of the organisms, and showed them how to use these fea-
tures in classifying the specimen.

5  Learning While Doing Something Important

In this case study, we see how students became part of an endeavor that engages
people across the life-span, who become familiar with and expand their room to
maneuver (become competent contributors) with respect to community-scale envi-
ronmental issues. There is no distinction and classification of what they do currently
as science, technology, engineering, arts, or mathematics—or, for these matters, any
other relevant field of endeavor, such as politics, ethics (e.g., ecojustice, environ-
mental justice), law, animal husbandry, leisure specialist, etc. Students can learn
that engagement is not a one-time thing, and that contentious issues do not neces-
sarily get settled. In one instance, a water main was constructed after 15 years of
political wrangling, ultimately involving three levels of government financing it.
But the issues were complicated, involving lawyers, citizens, geologists, the regional
medical board, town engineers, financial planers, town council, the water advisory
board, and other stakeholders. They can also learn that some issues do not get set-
tled. Thus, at the time of this writing (2017), the wrangling concerning Maber Flats
still is ongoing, with a lawsuit having been filed to turn the area into arable land
again; and efforts are mobilized against the municipality, which has been more ten-
tative in the face of the ecological importance of the area, as advanced not only by
environmental groups but also by a regional initiative focusing on sustainable liv-
ing, nature, and culture and society. It is a joint community-university initiative that
is governed by community groups, nongovernmental agencies, aboriginal peoples
(First Nations), local government, regional funders, and researchers from a univer-
sity in the region.
In this unit, the children do something that is real and important. Though also in
school, they participate in a societal activity—environmental activism—where
environmental and human health and their improvement are the defining objectives
or motives. The activity does not inherently distinguish among participating sub-
jects by age. If it did, this would only be another form of discrimination, for “the
convenient belief that their age in years in and of itself disqualifies some people
from being taken seriously or insures their ‘natural irresponsibility’ is surely as
fundamentally immoral as the similar beliefs about race, gender, and nationality”
(Lemke 1990, p. 85). Indeed, the activity itself is not defined by learning as such.
Participants’ learning is co-extensive with their power to act, and increasing this
power (i.e., agency) inherently is in the interest of the individual or collective sub-
We Need More (than) STEAM: Let’s Go for Life-Wide and Lifelong Education 65

ject. Thus, if someone encounters a snag, they do whatever it takes to resolve it,
sometimes turning to others, and in the course of so doing, their competencies of
dealing with this type of snag specifically and with snags more generally. They
become competent in debrouillardise, the capacity to get oneself creatively out of
(wicked) life problems and the dispositions (ability) necessary to learn as one goes
(i.e., knowledgeability).
Much money has been spent over the last 50 years since Sputnik shocked the
USA into developing STEM education. The Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development reports that the relative share of students engaging in science and
technology has declined over the last several decades, and female student represen-
tation still lags that of male representation (OECD 1997). Despite all the expendi-
tures, however, the wicked problems of education and society only seem to grow in
number. Some of today’s wicked problems include: (a) failure to appropriately
appreciate the scope and limitations of scientific facts (leading to climate change
denial and acceptance of “alternative facts”); (b) inability to see that there cannot be
continued (economic) growth on a planet with finite resources; (c) STEM discipline-­
specific hubris that fails to recognize the need for collectively achieved, transdisci-
plinarity solutions; and (d) recognition that wicked problems are by nature ill-defined
and continuously emerging (thus transforming). We need to gather steam to make
STEAM, and beyond, relevant to life. In this chapter, I suggest that some form of
deinstitutionalizing schooling by making students’ actions relevant to the commu-
nity is one way of achieving this goal. However, the point of this chapter is not that
schools are unnecessary. There is a role that schools can play—e.g., as designated
physical spaces. But this role will be different from the role they have had in the
past. A cultural-historical activity theoretic analysis shows that cognition—thus
development, learning, and personality—is a function of the activity system, and
different activity systems lead to different forms of cognition. Thus, a school cur-
riculum focusing on the environment with a STEM or STEAM perspective leads to
different forms and contents of learning than participating in some environment-­
related, community-based initiatives. If the aim of schooling is to learn for life, then
schooling, if it is to be effective, must take students into that very life for which it is
intended to prepare them.

References

Lemke, J. (1990). Talking science: Language, learning, and values. Westport: Ablex.
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (1997). Science and technol-
ogy in the public eye. Accessed at [Link]
Roth, W.-M. (2002). Taking science education beyond schooling. Canadian Journal of Science,
Mathematics and Technology Education, 2, 37–48.
Roth, W.-M. (2007). Toward a dialectical notion and praxis of scientific literacy. Journal of
Curriculum Studies, 39, 377–398.
66 W.-M. Roth

Roth, W.-M. (2014). Rules of bending, bending the rules: The geometry of conduit bending in col-
lege and workplace. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 86, 177–192.
Roth, W.-M., & Alexander, T. (1997). The interaction of students’ scientific and religious dis-
courses: Two case studies. International Journal of Science Education, 19, 125–146.
Roth, W.-M., & McGinn, M.  K. (1997). Deinstitutionalizing school science: Implications of a
strong view of situated cognition. Research in Science Education, 27, 497–513.
Roth, W.-M., & van Eijck, M. (2010). Fullness of life as minimal unit: Science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning across the lifespan. Science Education, 94,
1027–1048.
Saxe, G. B. (1991). Culture and cognitive development: Studies in mathematical understanding.
Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Wolff-Michael Roth  is Lansdowne Professor of Applied

Cognitive Science in the Faculty of Education at the University of
Victoria. His research concerns knowing, learning, and develop-
ment across the life-span in workplace, formal educational, and
leisure settings with a special focus on science, technology, engi-
neering, mathematics, and language.
Using Project-Based Learning to Teach
STEAM

Gary Ubben

“Students who are in real contact with problems which are

relevant to them, wish to learn, want to grow, seek to discover,
endeavor to master, desire to create, move toward self-­
discipline” (Rogers 1969, p. 158)

1  Introduction

The class had been discussing the hurricane in Puerto Rico and the resulting clean
water shortage problem. The people there had water, but it was polluted. How do
you make polluted water clean? If it looks clean, is it OK to drink?
The students had small plastic food containers on their table, each containing a
different material, including pebbles, sand (course and fine), dirt, charcoal, rice,
marbles, and several kinds of fabric materials, such as cotton balls, gauze, scouring
pads, window screen, disposable face masks, etc., and a half-liter bottle of very
cloudy polluted water. Each team also had a 1-foot length of plastic pipe. The class
challenge was to build a gravity-driven water filtration system using some or all of
the supplied materials, to get the water as clear as possible. The final water product
would be judged on the clarity of the water and the pH level. Working in groups of
four or five, the students were to decide which materials to use and the order to place
them in the foot-long plastic pipe, marking their location on the outside of the pipe.
In their project report, each group was asked to defend their decisions of which
materials to use and the order in which they placed them in their pipe. Some groups
started with the courser material first, gradually moving to finer filtering materials,
while other groups alternated between course and fine materials, separating them
with fabric materials. Yet others went from fine to course materials, thinking of the

G. Ubben (*)
Department of Educational Leadership, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
e-mail: gubben@[Link]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 67

A. J. Stewart et al. (eds.), Converting STEM into STEAM Programs,
Environmental Discourses in Science Education 5,
[Link]
68 G. Ubben

rocks they had seen in mountain streams. The groups were allowed to do internet
searches for guidance. At the end of the class period, a half-liter of dirty water was
poured slowly through each pipe filter into a clear glass container, where it would
be analyzed the following day for clarity and pH. Each group would then give a
presentation on their project the following day.
Each group was given a set of guiding questions to help them in their problem-­
solving and final report preparation. These questions were open-ended, such as
“why did you choose the filtering materials you used and why did you place them
in this order? Did you seek any expert advice? Do you think your cleansed water is
now drinkable? What about water-borne diseases? Do you think your filtering sys-
tem eliminates them? What else might you need to further reduce this risk?
Excitement permeated the classroom while the teacher circulated through the
room answering students’ questions. Some of the groups had to rush at the end of
the hour to get their filtration system finished and pour the water through their pipe.
It was obvious the next day that some of the teams did better than others in
designing an effective system. Then the discussion began: why?

1.1  T
 he Interrelationship of STEAM Subjects in Solving
Complex Problems

One evening my youngest daughter was doing her middle school science homework
on electricity. I asked her if she was familiar with Ohm’s Law, the mathematical
formula for determining the flow of current. Her reply startled me: “Dad,” she said,
“I am studying science. This is not my math course.” It made me realize how, at least
in the eyes of students, we have compartmentalized learning with each subject exist-
ing in its own silo of knowledge. We have done this, of course, to employ specialists
in each subject—but as a result, we have often denied ourselves the opportunity for
integrating knowledge across disciplines, particularly with complex problems.
An underlying rationale for STEM and STEAM curricula is more than the
importance of teaching each of these subjects: it is the integration of these disci-
plines and how, together, each might contribute to solving complex problems. The
solutions to many real-world complex problems must draw on several of the STEAM
disciplines, including the Arts. Project-based learning (PBL), with carefully chosen
projects, is an excellent vehicle to utilize multiple disciplines in solving complex
problems. A well-designed PBL brings together the application of the skills and the
knowledge needed in the workplace to solve complex problems. It requires students
to draw on multiple disciplines for good solutions. And, by adding the Arts to
STEM, we greatly broaden the range of analytical tools available to our
problem-solving.
Using Project-Based Learning to Teach STEAM 69

2  Project-Based Learning

Project-based learning has been given many different names over the years, such as
experiential learning, inquiry-based learning, maker projects, problem-based learn-
ing, challenge-based learning, etc. All are found in the educational literature for
lesson plans and activities, involving individual or student-group activities seeking
solution to a communal problem or task.

2.1  Experiential Learning

During the progressive movement in education of the 1930s, a leading American

educational philosopher, John Dewey, concluded that all learning comes through
experience and promoted the idea of experiential education (Experience and
Education, Dewey 1938). Educational research projects of that period, such as the
eight-year study by Wilford (1942) demonstrated the effectiveness of what we now
call project-based learning. Other writers, such as Kurt Lewin (1943), proposed
ideas of experiential learning as an active process, rather than a passive process.
Lewin, and later his student David Kolb (1984), envisioned learning as a four-step
process: (1) concrete experience, (2) observation and reflection, (3) abstract concep-
tualization, and (4) testing of concepts in new situations. Kurt Lewin also promoted
ideas of the importance of task interdependence to learning. He suggested that inter-
dependence in the goals of group members creates a powerful learning dynamic
(Brown 1988). These learning processes, including the soft skills of group coopera-
tion are built into PBL designs of today.

2.2  The Foxfire Experience (2002)

Experiential learning fell from favor in most American schools after WWII as
behavioral objectives, learning standards, and testing grew in popularity. But in
1966, a young teacher, Eliot Wigginton (1986), began his teaching career in a rural
mountain community of north Georgia. He soon realized his effort to teach gram-
mar and composition to these mountain children was a disaster. His students did not
share his passion for the subject. With his new career almost in ruins, he turned to
his students for their input as to what to do. Together they came up with a project,
the idea of publishing a student literary magazine about things that they knew from
their local culture. Wigginton insisted that his students choose their own projects to
70 G. Ubben

write about, but that they must learn basic English skills through the process. They
named the magazine Foxfire after the luminous fungus found on the trunks of rotting
trees in the Appalachian Mountains. Student-written articles were about the culture
and often the handmade items these mountain children knew. The arts were
­incorporated holistically into projects reported in Foxfire, in the form of stories and
projects drawn from the local culture of the community such as “How to dress out a
hog” or “Building a log cabin.” The magazine grew in popularity among educators
nationwide for its practical application of knowledge. The Foxfire magazines later
were bound by year of publication and widely distributed as books of projects that
could be replicated by other students.
Later, as Wigginton (1986) was looking for a philosophical base for the success
he was experiencing in the classroom, he made a startling discovery as he was read-
ing John Dewey’s Experience and Education. All the discoveries he thought he was
making about education, Dewey had elucidated into complete clarity 50 years and
more before! By the mid 1970s the Foxfire magazine and books brought national
attention to Wigginton and his students, and many teachers were attempting to create
similar cultural journalism programs (Starnes 1999). Wigginton and his colleagues
had unwittingly helped revive the concept of experiential learning, which had been
near death from the progressive era of the 1930s (Ratvitch 2000). Today’s version of
Foxfire might use a YouTube format with the PBL directing students to demonstrate
how to build something such as a simple computer or a home security system.

2.3  What Has Project-Based Learning Become Today?

PBL is an instructional strategy in which project work is central—not peripheral!—

to the learning process. The PBL lessons described later in this chapter nudge stu-
dents into roles in which they assume much responsibility and control over their
own learning.
A PBL lesson plan directs the activities of the students, rather than the activities
of the teacher. The role of the student is as a participant engaged in actively trying
to resolve the complex situation. The lesson usually begins by presenting a project
to design or a problem that needs to be resolved, ultimately with the solution being
reported to a larger audience. The exercise may begin as a task to investigate, plan,
organize, or create a product to be used by someone. Students may work individu-
ally on a problem, but it is more common for them to work on tasks in small teacher-­
assigned groups. PBLs often are highly motivating to students—especially when
students have an authentic problem to solve and the opportunity to work coopera-
tively with other children. It is learning by doing. PBLs have been successful with
all ages of students, from early elementary school through graduate school. It is
common practice in medical schools to use PBLs to help future doctors learn how
to diagnose illnesses.
There is no common standardized format for PBLs in the pedagogical literature,
but most PBL lesson plans have a common set of features. For example, PBLs typi-
Using Project-Based Learning to Teach STEAM 71

cally engage the students in authentic tasks that are modeled after the work of pro-
fessionals in scientific, technical, business, or community organizations. These
tasks are often messy and ambiguous—just like many problems in the real world!
Part of the student’s task is to cut through the ambiguity and organize the problem.
Projects require students to locate resources, gather and analyze data, establish time
lines, seek solutions, prepare and edit reports, and present information through vari-
ous media.
Some examples of PBL topics are:
• The teacher would like to form a school symphony, but lacks the funds necessary
to purchase the instruments. Can a group of 5th- and 6th-grade students research,
design, and build their own musical instruments, including percussion, string,
wind, and synthesized instruments? The final products will be incorporated in a
school symphony that will perform for the school in the annual talent show.
• As a group of filmmakers, how can we encourage our community to recycle its
waste?
• How can we design an attractive and functional ape (or reptile, or butterfly)
house for our local zoo?
• We hear of frequent charges of fake news or the denial of scientific findings. How
do we prove what we think to be true? Give examples.

3  Project Versus Problem-Based Learning

Note that some of the topics listed above suggest a specific “project” in solving a
problem, such as constructing musical instruments. Other topics, such as the recy-
cling question, identify an open-ended “problem” of “How” where the students must
also determine the direction to the solution. This is often the distinction made between
the two terms—project or problem. To create a better distinction between the two
terms sometimes the term problem is changed to challenge-based learning (CBL).
The Buck Institute for Education (BIE 2019), a leading nonprofit organization
dedicated to promoting project-based learning, defines PBL as “A teaching method
in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of
time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging and complex question,
problem, or challenge.” This definition leans more toward problem-based learning.
In its gold standard, BIE identifies a set of essential project design elements that
should be included in a well-written PBL lesson plan. These include:
• Key Knowledge, Understanding, and Success Skills: The project is focused on
student learning goals, including standards-based content and skills such as
critical thinking/problem-solving, communication, collaboration, and
self-management.
• Challenging Problem or Question: The project is framed by a meaningful prob-
lem to solve or a question to answer, at the appropriate level of challenge.
72 G. Ubben

• Sustained Inquiry: Students engage in a rigorous, extended process of asking

questions, finding resources, and applying information.
• Authenticity: The project features real-world context, tasks and tools, quality
standards, or impact—or speaks to students’ personal concerns, interests, and
issues in their lives.
• Student Voice and Choice: Students make some decisions about the project,
including how they work and what they create.
• Reflection: Students and teachers reflect on learning, the effectiveness of their
inquiry and project activities, the quality of student work, and obstacles and how
to overcome them.
• Critique and Revision: Students give, receive, and use feedback to improve their
process and products.
• Public Product: Students make their project work public by explaining, display-
ing, and/or presenting it to people beyond the classroom.

3.1  My Place, Your Place, Our Place

In 2002, a US Department of State–University partnership project between the

University of Tennessee and Bourgas University in Bulgaria used PBLs to work
with local public schools in both countries. In this project, teachers were trained to
write PBLs about local culture; their students completed the projects and then
placed the project reports on the My Place, Your Place, Our Place (MYOP) web
page, where they could be shared with classrooms worldwide. The PBL lesson plan
format presented in this chapter was first developed in the MYOP project (Ubben,
MYOP 2005).

4  How PBLs Work in the Classroom

4.1  The Teachers’ Role

The teachers have at least seven distinct roles when working with PBLs.
Role one. The first is that of selecting one or more problematic situations for the
students to resolve. It may be done by an individual teacher or by a team of teach-
ers bringing different subject matter ideas and skills to the table. The exercises
are often obtained from a library of PBLs to match a prescribed curriculum or set
of Standards. There are many libraries of free-domain PBL situations in books
and on the internet. Several library sources of PBLs also are listed at the end of
Chapter “How to Structure Project-Based Learning to Meet STEAM Objectives”.
Alternatively, teachers may wish to design and construct and use a new PBL. Here
a standard format should be used by all teachers such as the one suggested in this
Using Project-Based Learning to Teach STEAM 73

chapter. This is important so that nothing is left out and that other teachers may
easily find their way through it.
Role two. The next role of the teacher is to set the stage for the project by introduc-
ing to the students the issue, dilemma, or problem to be solved. This may be a
real situation such as the example of the water crisis in Puerto Rico or may be a
totally contrived but realistic scenario.
Role three. This happens after the teacher has introduced the PBL. The role involves
providing the initial organizational structure for student teams or individuals, in
which parameters for the project are laid out, and the teacher sets dates and times
for progress reports, and informs students about completion dates.
Role four. Now the teacher’s role shifts dramatically to that of guide. While students
work on the PBL, the teacher becomes a coach, an advisor, a resource person, or
a subject matter expert, depending upon what is needed by the students—but
only as needed to help the students resolve the problem or complete certain tasks
where they must learn new skills to succeed. The teacher remains critical to the
success of the student-directed activity, but becomes “a guide by the side rather
than the sage on the stage.” In short, the role of the teacher as presenter of knowl-
edge is greatly reduced. However, they can function as a resource librarian to
help students locate information they need. This role is sometimes difficult for
teachers who are more accustomed to a lecture/recitation delivery. Often the
teacher can best provide guidance by simply asking the group a directing
question.
Role five. If the students have not had much experience with self-directed learning,
the teacher must help the students develop these soft skills. This is particularly
necessary with initial PBL efforts. Depending on the expected outcomes for the
project, students will need to be able to exercise a series of research, process, and
presentation skills. The research skills may be developed though data collection,
recording, and/or analysis. Organizational and planning skills are likely required,
as well. If children are to work in teams, they will need group-process skills and
strategies such as brainstorming or consensus decision-making. And, if they are
to prepare reports of their efforts for a public presentation of their results, they
will need to know about digital photography, spreadsheets, multimedia presenta-
tion, and web publishing.
Role six. Soft-skills assessment. With the project under way, the teacher should
observe student progress and reassure them of their direction and, if needed,
redirect their efforts. When students are working in teams, it is particularly
important for the teacher to observe individual student effort. This can often best
be done with rubrics. Students should also be taught self-assessment and peer
assessment—and rubric examples for doing this are given in Chapter “How to
Structure Project-Based Learning to Meet STEAM Objectives”, on PBL
structure.
Role seven. The teacher always has the ultimate responsibility of assessing the con-
tent learning that occurs, but this should be done using predetermined criteria
and a rubric based on the learning objectives and product specifications set out
74 G. Ubben

for the project. Rubric examples are located in Chapter “How to Structure
Project-Based Learning to Meet STEAM Objectives”, on PBL structure.

4.2  The Student’s Role

In well-conducted PBL projects, students are accountable to themselves as well as

their peers and should be given considerable autonomy. This skill set on the part of
the student may not be well developed, if most of their previous learning has been
highly teacher-directed. Life skills and process skills such as self-management,
group-process, and problem-solving are to be practiced by students as they engage
in the PBL activities. Opportunities for student creativity and ingenuity also abound
in well-designed PBLs. Students are responsible for synthesizing and constructing
knowledge that is needed for project success, either in a way the project suggests or
in a way the students set for themselves. They develop their own strategies to enable
and direct their own work. Students also become stakeholders in the PBL as they
immerse themselves in the process: they find pride and ownership in the success of
their work. This becomes a great motivator for continued learning. The rubrics sug-
gested in the previous paragraphs can help direct this learning.

4.3  The PBL Classroom

PBL classrooms rarely look like other classrooms. PBL classrooms need flexible
and variable arrangements for their activities. Students are both working indepen-
dently and interacting with each other in pursuit of their mission. While direct
instruction occurs in PBL, it usually takes place within other activities. It may be
done with one of the small teams of students working on a particular aspect of the
project. Classrooms that are equipped with tables that seat four to six students and
can be moved to different configurations seem to work best.
Some schools are creating shared maker spaces providing students with the
infrastructure required for the creation of professional-level solutions, software
applications, models, and products. Some of the more elaborate maker spaces
include design areas for animation, simulations, and programing and fabrication
areas for 3D printing, laser cutting, metal working, vacuum forming, textile fabrica-
tion, resin casting, wood working, and robotics. Of course, a middle or elementary
school would have a less elaborate arrangement. Because of the cost of some of this
equipment, partnerships with local industry frequently occur.
Using Project-Based Learning to Teach STEAM 75

4.4  B
 enefits of and Outcomes from PBLs in a STEAM
Curriculum

PBL fosters in-depth understanding of subject matter content and develops stu-
dents’ skills, strategies, and dispositions associated with professional activities in
different subject areas. It is of value in integrating learning across what we have
artificially created as separate disciplines or knowledge categories. Adding the arts
to establish STEAM broadens opportunities for integration. How can we look at a
bridge and not appreciate its beauty or elegance of design, or the lack thereof? Or,
view the new One World Trade Center in New York without appreciating the histori-
cal significance of its design and location?
Students learn not only the knowledge and skills that are essential to solve prob-
lems, but also the life skills and habits that are essential for success in the world
beyond the classroom. Such skills include problem identification, problem-solving,
group interaction and process, communication with others (using multiple media
types), and the ability to prepare reports, edit, revise their writing, manage time in a
group setting, and meet deadlines.
Finally, students develop self-assessment skills. In most PBLs, assessment is a
responsibility of the students themselves—it is not just the teacher who assesses!
Criteria that allow students to determine how well they have met the expectations
for the project are laid out in the PBL section on product specifications as well as
the assessment rubric. In addition, the presentation of projects to the entire class or
larger adult audience provides students with peer-assessment opportunities that, in
turn, improve their own skills at self-assessment.

5  Research Supporting the PBL Approach

Enthusiasm for PBL has been growing for many years with some of the best research
coming from the field of medical education (Albanese and Mitchell 1993; Berkson
1993; Colliver 2000; Davies 2000; Vernon and Blake 1993). The field of psychol-
ogy has also produced some valuable insight into the use of PBLs. (Hmelo-Silver
2004; Hmelo-Silver et al. 2007; Kirschner et al. 2006).
However, the research supporting PBL-type instruction has been very limited,
especially in K–12 cases. Foundational, of course, is the work of John Dewey (1916,
1938, 1981). More recent work includes a controlled experimental study of PBL in
a middle school population (Wirkala and Kuhn 2011) at Teachers College Columbia
University used between- and within-subject comparisons of students learning the
same material under three instructional conditions: (1) lecture/discussion, (2)
characteristic small-group PBL, and (3) solitary PBL.  Through assessments of
76 G. Ubben

comprehension and application of concepts in a new context 9 weeks after instruc-

tion, this study showed superior mastery in both PBL conditions, relative to the
lecture condition. The equivalent performance in the two PBL conditions suggested
that the social component of PBL is not a critical feature of its effectiveness.
However, this research only measured subject content. No indicators were included
to measure soft skills, the main expected outcome of the social component.
Many other studies have been conducted on PBL. Some of these research studies
with significance for STEAM are listed in the reference section of this chapter
(Dochy et  al. 2003; Foxfire Fund Inc 2002; Gijbels et  al. 2005; Pease and Kuhn
2011; Starnes 2000; Starnes et al. 1999; Schmidt et al. 2007; Walker and Leary 2009).

6  How to Structure a PBL to Meet STEAM Objectives

PBL lesson plans can be organized in various ways, but a standard format ensures
all necessary elements are included for a good PBL. A standard lesson plan format
also helps teacher and student participants quickly become familiar with subsequent
PBLs. However, teachers using these PBLs should adapt them to their classroom
and the maturity and experience level of their students.
Each PBL lesson plan, after the title, should include the following eight sections:
• Topic/Problem/Grade/Length
• Topic Paragraph—(introduction and setting for the study)
• Curriculum Standards
• PBL Objectives
• Guiding Questions
• Product Specifications
• Resources
• Assessment Rubric

6.1  Topic/Problem/Grade/Length

Projects can vary greatly as to difficulty, complexity, and length. It is important to

provide identification information to aid the teacher in searching for appropriate
PBLs for their classroom. This information can help teachers quickly identify pos-
sible activities. For example, a PBL for elementary children might carry the heading
Transportation/Building a Strong Stick Bridge/Grade 3 or 4, 2 hours.
Using Project-Based Learning to Teach STEAM 77

6.2  Topic Paragraph

Describe, in one paragraph, the project to be completed or the problem to be solved

and direct it to the students. An example is, Working in a group of four and given a
stack of popsicles sticks and a tube of wood glue, build a wooden bridge 5 inches
wide and spanning at least 12 inches and capable of holding a two-pound weight.
The activity might not give any other instruction, relying on the creativity of the
students, or it might include pictures of bridges illustrating successful stick bridges
to provide the team with basic ideas. Obviously, additional instructions could be
given for this activity using the students’ successes and failures as illustrations.
Often, setting the stage for an activity with a reason for needing the solution can
help provide focus. For example, the discussion of the aftermath of the hurricane
and need for drinking water in Puerto Rico and the difficulty in supplying it pro-
vided the backdrop for the water-filtration project.

6.3  Curriculum Standards

Aligning projects to curriculum standards can be challenging. If the bridge project

is for 3rd and 4th-grade students, the standard may be drawn, for example, from
those addressing transportation, communication, or safety. For higher grades, the
standard might be drawn from geometry or physics.
The content for each PBL should be selected such that the projects address
important curricular goals and standards appropriate for the age and grade of the
students involved. Most states in the USA have adopted curriculum standards such
as the Common Core Curriculum, and some states use the newer Next Generation
Science Standards in science. The Next Generation Science Standards (2017),
adopted by 18 states and the District of Columbia, demand a three-dimensional
approach to instruction. Each lesson is to combine “practices,” or the behaviors of
real scientists and engineers; “cross-cutting concepts,” which clarify connections
across science disciplines and help students create a coherent view of the world
based on science, and “disciplinary core ideas,” or the fundamental ideas students
must know to understand a given science discipline.
In searching for appropriate PBL topics, it might seem logical to begin with the
list of standards to which teachers are expected to teach. In practice, however, it is
difficult to design a good PBL around these lists. Alternatively, one can reverse the
process: first select a good PBL, and then see which standards can be taught through
the PBL. For example, assume the topic is gardening. From raised bed squares to
aquaponics to aeroponics, horticulture offers creative and innovative projects that
incorporate many of the standards we are asked to teach. Beginning with the activ-
ity, PBL projects can be designed by finding standards within national, state, and
local curriculum and student performance lists. Since our focus is on the integration
of STEAM subjects, it would be appropriate to review standards lists from each of
78 G. Ubben

these subjects to see how they may contribute to the project’s framework. The best
projects to spur student interest usually include those based on a realistic challenge,
investigation, or problem for the students to resolve. And often, competition among
teams adds motivation.

6.4  PBL (Learning) Objectives in the Context of STEAM

Learning objectives describe what the student is going to be able to do at the end of
the activity. Objectives are often best written if they begin with a verb such as under-
stand, know, practice, write, or develop skill at, per Bloom’s Taxonomy (see https://
[Link]/critical-thinking/249-blooms-taxonomy-verbs-for-critical-
thinking/). It is appropriate to indicate basic and advanced levels when a class holds
a range of student ages or abilities.
Learning objectives can be divided into a several categories. General objectives
are those that apply to the entire project and are often skills related; they may deal
with research, organization, group process, and reporting. Here is an example.
By the end of this project the student will be able to:
• Formulate questions for effective interviews, conduct interviews, and organize
their responses
• Demonstrate their use of new media technologies by preparing photographs and
videos for a web presentation
• Practice their writing skills by preparing written illustrated reports for posting on
the web
• Develop teamwork skills through participation in student work committees
• Practice their presentation skills by giving illustrated multimedia oral reports to
their classmates and others
But in addition to general learning objectives, content or subject-specific learn-
ing objectives must be included. If the PBL is to serve a multidisciplinary purpose,
each discipline should be reviewed to determine what its contributions might be to
desired learning outcomes. For example:
• Demonstrate your mapping skills by showing latitude and longitude locations for
the areas you are studying.
• Demonstrate your understanding of certain geometric shapes in designing strong
bridge structures.
• Identify the sound patterns of at least four different musical instruments using an
oscilloscope.
Using Project-Based Learning to Teach STEAM 79

6.5  Guiding Questions

Guiding Questions are used to direct the students’ thinking by asking questions.
They can encourage students to explore directions or intricacies of which they might
not have thought or in preventing the project from wandering off in an unintended
direction. They are not intended to be answered directly: rather, they only guide the
students’ thinking. They are important both in PBL and for meeting STEAM
objectives.
PBLs should include a series of questions and subquestions that are provocative,
significant, and realistic, and these questions should drive the students’ investiga-
tion in directions that result in the essential core lesson designed to be taught by the
project. For example, the simple bridge-construction PBL discussed earlier might
ask students about types of bridges or about pictures of bridges. Which of these
bridge types might they be able to copy with a popsicle sticks construction? Or,
looking at a picture of a bridge, what are some of the geometric shapes they see and
what are their functions? Are some bridges prettier than others? If so, why? Are new
bridges designed the same way bridges were built 50 or 100 years ago? If they are
different, why?

6.6  Product Specification

Product specification tells the student exactly what their final products are to look
like and the form in which they are to be submitted. In the example of the model
wooden bridge, the “Product Specification” for elementary school children was to
“build a wooden bridge with popsicle sticks 5 inches wide and spanning at least 12
inches and capable of holding a two-pound weight.” The class discussion after the
presentation and testing of the completed projects can be expanded to questions
about which bridges were the strongest, and why, or which bridges used the least
amount of material, or which bridges were the prettiest—but the model bridge was
what was required of the students.
The same project could be made more challenging as a PBL for middle-school
students by asking more complex guiding questions such as, “How we can, as math-
ematicians, use geometry and pre-algebra to help us design and build a model
bridge?” In this case, we need to describe how we wish the students to explain their
use of pre-algebra and geography. This can be done by adding a product specifica-
tion: “Explain, in a written and final oral report, your use of pre-algebra and geom-
etry in designing and building your bridge.”
And even higher-order thinking can be achieved by presenting the project as a
problem to be solved, and adjusting the product specifications accordingly. Rather
than asking the class to build or design a bridge, the teacher could frame the prob-
lem as a need to move a minimum of 500 cars a day across a 500-foot-wide fast-­
flowing river, with banks that are 50 feet above the river. Now the questions become
80 G. Ubben

“How? A ferry? A tunnel? A bridge?” Other questions emerge immediately thereaf-

ter. Bridge style? The most cost effective method? The most aesthetically appeal-
ing? etc. The ideas to explore can be built into the guiding questions. The product
specifications in this case will now include a written report and public presentation
that incorporates the team’s recommendations, the rationale for their conclusions
and explanation about how they arrived at them, pictures or drawings of their sug-
gested solution(s), and estimated costs. The way the questions were asked also clas-
sifies this lesson as problem-based learning rather than simply project based.
Public feedback to students is an important and integral part of every PBL and
should be written into most product specifications. Through PBLs, students often
develop new knowledge, and the task of presenting it in a meaningful way to others
helps solidify that learning. The presentation may be to classmates, but often pre-
sentations to parents and other community members such as subject matter experts
or government officials have great benefit. Yet a broader audience can sometimes
create some anxiety as well. PBLs may involve a partner school located some dis-
tance away, so PBL reports prepared as web-based reports can provide easy access
to partner schools.

6.7  Resources

List any material or equipment needed by either the teacher or the students to com-
plete the PBL. For the several PBL examples used in this chapter, necessary materi-
als range from popsicle sticks, glue, and a two-pound weight to pictures of bridges
(internet), to an oscilloscope, camera, a computer-based GPS application, presenta-
tion software, etc.
Of particular importance are specific information reference sources that students
need to best understand the project concepts. These sources can be in the form of
teacher-made worksheets, YouTube videos, copies of textbook pages to read, jour-
nal articles, or the instruction to students to do a general internet search for specific
suggested topics.

6.8  Student Assessment Rubrics

The way students are evaluated for their work should be predetermined in every
PBL. To help determine the basis for that assessment, the teacher should review the
two major components of the PBL: its learning objectives and the product (out-
comes) specifications. These components are given to the students at the beginning
of the project. Teachers can develop assessment rubrics or checklists from these two
lists. These rubrics can include both quantity and quality measures.
Assessment areas should include higher-order thinking skills, organization of the
project, and collaboration among team members. Higher-order thinking skills can
Using Project-Based Learning to Teach STEAM 81

be assessed in not only the students’ written works, but also in their conversations
with team members and the teacher, and in the graphic organizers of their
presentations.
All rubrics have three basic components and are generally presented as tables.
The vertical dimension lists the skill or standard, the horizontal lists three or four
criteria along a continuum (e.g., from low to high). Content within the table
describes what the behavior or skill “looks like” at a given performance level.
One set of rubrics useful for most PBLs can be developed around the general
objectives stated earlier in this chapter: interviewing, using new media technolo-
gies, writing skills, teamwork skills, and presentation skills. Similar rubrics can be
developed for each of the other general objectives of PBL. Additional rubrics can be
created for student self-assessment and for peer assessments from other team mem-
bers. Examples of these rubrics can be found in the next chapter on PBL structure.
Rubrics can be constructed for each of the content specific objectives stated in
PBL. As noted previously, these should be based on the learning objectives and on
the product specification. Some can be very specific. For example, the continuum
for the stick bridge: spans less than 12 inches, 12 inches, or more than 12 inches. It
supports less than 2 pounds, up to 2 pounds, or more than 2 pounds. The top head-
ings might reflect performance levels such as novice, mastery, and distinguished,
and the side headings reflect the product specification content. Rubric categories
also can have scoring numbers assigned so that a numeric total may be assigned.

6.9  In Closing

Even a cursory online search conducted using [Link] with the search phrase
“STEAM project-based learning” will return dozens of results. The astute reader
that is interested in converting her or his classroom from a STEM-focused approach
to a PBL-centered STEAM approach will find no shortage of online resources
encouraging the conversion. Rather, a STEM-to-STEAM conversion at the class-
room level may focus most productively on ensuring the selected projects properly
align with appropriate standards for the discipline areas that are considered (see
Ubben, Chapter “The Role of STEAM in a Sustainable World” on PBL structure),
and that the selected projects provide good opportunities for the students to engage
meaningfully with real problems.

References

Albanese, M., & Mitchell, S. (1993). Problem-based learning: A review of literature on its out-
comes and implementation issues. Academic Medicine, 68, 52–81.
Berkson, L. (1993). Problem-based learning: Have the expectations been met? Academic Medicine,
68(Suppl 10), S79–S88.
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Brown, R. (1988). Group Processes. Dynamics within and between groups. Oxford: Blackwell.
Buck Institute for Education. (2019). [Link]
Colliver, J.  (2000). Effectiveness of problem-based learning curricula: Research and theory.
Academic Medicine, 75, 259–266.
Davies, P. (2000). Approaches to evidence-based teaching. Medical Teacher, 22(1), 14–21.
Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education. New York: The Free Press.
Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. New York: Macmillian.
Dewey, J. (1981). The school and social progress. In J. McDermott (Ed.), The philosophy of John
Dewey. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Dochy, F., Segers, M., Van den Bossche, P., & Gijbels, D. (2003). Effects of problem-based learn-
ing: A meta-analysis. Learning and Instruction, 13, 533–568.
Foxfire Fund Inc. (2002). Foxfire mission. Mountain City, GA: Foxfire.
Gijbels, D., Dochy, F., Van den Bossche, P., & Segers, M. (2005). Effects of problem-based learn-
ing: A meta-analysis from the angle of assessment. Review of Educational Research, 71(1),
27–61.
Hmelo-Silver, C. (2004). Problem-based learning: What and how do students learn? Educational
Psychology Review, 16(3), 235–266.
Hmelo-Silver, C., Duncan, R. G., & Chinn, C. A. (2007). Scaffolding and achievement in problem-­
based and inquiry learning: A response to Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark 2006. Educational
Psychologist, 42(2), 99–107.
Kirschner, P., Sweller, J., & Clark, R. (2006). Why minimal guidance during instruction does not
work: An analysis of the failure of constructivist, discovery, problem-based, experiential, and
inquiry-based teaching. Educational Psychologist, 41(2), 75–86.
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Lewin, K. (1943). Defining the “Field at a Given Time.” Psychological Review, 50, 292–310.
Next Generation Science Standards. (2017). [Link]
Pease, M., & Kuhn, D. (2011). Experimental analysis of the effective components of problem-­
based learning. Science Education, 95, 57–86.
Ravitch, D. (2000). A century of failed school reforms. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Rogers, C.  R. (1969). Freedom to learn (2nd ed., 358 p). C.  E. Merritt Publishing. ISBN-13:
978-0675095792.
Schmidt, H. G., Loyens, S. M. M., van Gog, T., & Paas, F. (2007). Problem-based learning is com-
patible with human cognitive architecture: Commentary on Kirschner, Sweller and Clark 2006.
Educational Psychologist, 42(2), 91–97.
Starnes, B. A. (1999). The foxfire approach to teaching and learning: John Dewey, experiential
learning, and the core practices. Charleston, WV: ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education
and Small Schools.
Starnes, B. A. (2000, February). On dark times, parallel universes, and de'ja'vu. Phi Delta Kappan.
Starnes, B. A., Paris, C., & Stevens, C. (1999). The Foxfire core practices: Discussions and impli-
cations. Mountain City, GA: Foxfire.
Ubben, G. (2005). MYOP, education for the neighborhood and the world. University of Tennessee.
Vernon, D. T. A., & Blake, R. L. (1993). Does problem-based learning work? A meta-analysis of
evaluative research. Academic Medicine, 68, 550–563.
Walker, A., & Leary, H. (2009). A problem-based-learning meta-analysis: Differences across
problem types, implementation types, disciplines, and assessment levels. The Interdisciplinary
Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 3(1), 12–43.
Wigginton, E. (1986). Sometimes a shining moment: The foxfire experience. (Twenty years teach-
ing in a high school classroom). New York: Doubleday.
Wilford, A. (1942). The story of the eight year study. New York: Harper.
Wirkala, C., & Kuhn, D. (2011). Problem-based learning in K-12 education: is it effective and how
does it achieve its effects? American Educational Research Journal, 48(5), 1157–1186.
Using Project-Based Learning to Teach STEAM 83

Gary Ubben  became Professor Emeritus in the College of

Education at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, after a
40-year career. He retired from the University in 2010. He is the
author of over a dozen books in Education and Educational
Leadership. Dr. Ubben directed several international projects for
the college, including a USDS-sponsored partnership with
Bourgas Free University in Bulgaria, where Project-Based
Learning (PBL) became the vehicle for children of the two coun-
tries to engage in a cultural exchange over the internet. His two
chapters in this book are based on the PBL protocols developed
for that project.
How to Structure Project-Based Learning
to Meet STEAM Objectives

Gary Ubben

1  Introduction

While project-based learning (PBL) lesson plans can be organized in numerous

ways, a standard format ensures all necessary components for a good PBL are
included. A standard lesson plan format also helps teachers and student participants
quickly become familiar with each PBL they encounter. However, every teacher
using the PBLs in this chapter will need to adapt them to their classroom and to the
maturity and experience level of their students. This chapter provides a structure
and examples for a good PBL design.
Each PBL lesson plan, after the title, should include the following eight
components:
1. Topic/Problem/Grade/Time
2. Topic Paragraph – (introduction and setting for the study)
3. Curriculum Standards
4. PBL (Learning) Objectives
5. Guiding Questions
6. Product Specifications
7. Resources
8. Assessment Rubrics

G. Ubben (*)
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
e-mail: gubben@[Link]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 85

A. J. Stewart et al. (eds.), Converting STEM into STEAM Programs,
Environmental Discourses in Science Education 5,
[Link]
86 G. Ubben

2  Topic/Problem/Grade/Time

Projects can vary greatly as to difficulty, complexity, and length (usually measured
as average time to complete). It is important to provide identification information to
aid the teachers in their search for an appropriate PBL for their classroom. This
information can help teachers quickly identify a possible activity.
Examples: Transportation/Building a strong stick bridge/Grade 3 or 4/2 hours.
Engineering/Design and fabricate a simple, externally powered prosthetic hand/
Grade 11/36 hours/9 weeks.

3  Topic Paragraph

Describe, in one paragraph, the project to be completed or the problem to be solved

and direct it to the students. Examples:
Working in a group of four and given a stack of popsicle sticks and a tube of wood glue,
build a wooden bridge 5 inches wide and spanning at least 12 inches and capable of hold-
ing a two-pound weight.

Using 3D printers make a prosthetic hand for kids using freely available STL files. This
project applies 3D printing technology to solve other patient needs. The teams will generate
and analyze candidate solutions using criteria formed through their research.

The activity might not give any other instruction, relying on the creativity of the
students, or it might include pictures of finished products such as bridges illustrating
successful stick bridges or successful prosthetic hands to provide the team with
basic ideas. Obviously, additional instructions could be given for this activity using
the students’ successes and failures as illustrations. Often, setting the stage for an
activity with a reason for needing the solution can help provide focus. For example,
in Chap. 6, the discussion of the aftermath of the hurricane and need for drinking
water in Puerto Rico and the difficulty in providing it provided the backdrop for the
water-filtration project.

4  Curriculum Standards

Aligning projects to existing curriculum standards sometimes can be a real chal-

lenge. If the bridge project is for third and fourth grade students, the standard may
be drawn, for example, from those addressing transportation, communication, or
safety. For the prosthetic 3D printed hand the standard might come from geometry,
physics, or engineering.
How to Structure Project-Based Learning to Meet STEAM Objectives 87

The content for each PBL should be selected such that the projects address
important curricular goals and standards appropriate for the age and grade of the
students involved. Most states in the USA have adopted curriculum standards such
as the Common Core Curriculum, and some states use the newer Next Generation
Science Standards in science. The Next Generation Science Standards (2017),
adopted by 18 states and the District of Columbia, demand a three-dimensional
approach to instruction. Each lesson is to combine “practices,” or the behaviors of
real scientists and engineers; “cross-cutting concepts,” which clarify connections
across science disciplines and help students create a coherent view of the world
based on science; and disciplinary core ideas, or the fundamental ideas students
must know to understand a given science discipline.
In searching for appropriate PBL topics it might seem logical to begin with the list of
standards to which teachers are expected to teach. In practice, however, it is difficult to
design a good PBL around these lists. An alternative method is to reverse the process
(this is sometimes referred to as backward planning) by selecting a good PBL topic first,
and then see which standards can be taught through the PBL. For example, assume the
topic is gardening. From raised bed squares to aquaponics to aeroponics, horticulture
offers creative and innovative projects that incorporate many of the standards we are
asked to teach. Beginning with the activity, PBL projects can be designed by finding
applicable standards within national, state, and local curriculum and student perfor-
mance lists. Since our focus is on the integration of STEAM subjects, it would be appro-
priate to review standards lists from each of these subjects to see how they may contribute
to the project’s framework. The best projects to spur student interest usually include
those based on a realistic challenge, investigation, or problem for the students to resolve.

5  PBL (Learning) Objectives in the Context of STEAM

Learning objectives describe what the student is going to be able to do at the end of
the activity. Objectives are often best written if they begin with a verb such as under-
stand, know, practice, write, or develop skill at. It is appropriate to indicate basic
and advanced levels when a class holds a range of student ages or abilities.
Learning objectives can be divided into several categories. General objectives
are those that may apply to almost all projects. These objectives are ones that apply
to the entire project and are often soft skills related; they may deal with research,
organization, group process, and reporting.
For example: By the end of this project the student will be able to:
• Formulate questions for effective interviews, conduct interviews, and organize
their responses.
• Demonstrate their use of new media technologies by preparing photographs and
videos for a web presentation.
88 G. Ubben

• Practice their writing skills by preparing written illustrated reports for posting
on the web.
• Develop teamwork skills through participation in student work committees.
• Practice their presentation skills by giving illustrated multimedia oral reports to
their classmates and others.
In addition to the general learning objectives, content or subject-specific learning
objectives must be included. If the PBL is to serve a multidisciplinary purpose, as it
should in STEAM PBLs, each discipline should be reviewed to determine what its
contributions might be to desired learning outcomes. For example:
• Demonstrate your mapping skills by showing latitude and longitude locations
for the areas you are studying.
• Demonstrate your understanding of certain geometric shapes in designing strong
bridge structures.
• Identify the sound patterns of at least four different musical instruments using an
oscilloscope.
• Present your project to an adult panel of judges using well-designed graphic
images to highlight your story.

6  Guiding Questions

Guiding Questions are used to direct the students’ thinking along the proper path by
asking questions. They are helpful in encouraging the student to explore directions
or intricacies of which they might not have thought or in preventing the project from
wandering off in an unintended direction. They are not intended to be answered
directly but only to guide the students’ thinking. They are important both in PBL
and for meeting STEAM objectives.
PBLs should include a series of questions and subquestions that are provocative,
significant, and realistic, and these questions should drive the students’ investiga-
tion in directions that result in the essential core lesson designed to be taught by the
project. For example, the simple bridge PBL discussed earlier might ask students:
What are some different style bridges you have seen?
Where might you find pictures of bridges?
Looking at a picture of a bridge, what are some of the geometric shapes you see and
what are their functions?
Which of these bridge types do you think you might be able to copy with popsicle
stick construction?
Are some bridges prettier than others? If so, why?
Are new bridges today designed the same way bridges were built 50 or 100 years
ago? If different, why?
How can you use engineering design process in your project?
How to Structure Project-Based Learning to Meet STEAM Objectives 89

7  Product Specification

Product Specification tells the student exactly what their final products are to look
like and the form in which they are to be submitted. In the example of the model
wooden bridge, the “Product Specification” for elementary school children was to
build a wooden bridge with pop cycle sticks 5 inches wide and spanning at least 12
inches and capable of holding a two-pound weight. The class discussion after the
presentation and testing of the completed projects can be expanded to questions
about which bridges were the strongest, and why, or which bridges used the least
amount of material, or which bridges were the prettiest – but the model bridge was
what was required of the students.
The same project could be ratcheted up a notch as a PBL for middle-school stu-
dents by asking a more complex guiding question such as, How can we, as mathe-
maticians, use geometry and pre-algebra to help us design and build a model
bridge? In this case, we need to describe how we wish the students to explain their
use of pre-algebra and geography. This can be done by adding a product specifica-
tion: Explain, in a written and final oral report, your use of pre-algebra and geom-
etry in designing and building your bridge.
And even higher-order thinking can be achieved by presenting the project as a
problem to be solved, and adjusting the product specifications accordingly. Rather
than asking the class to build or design a bridge, the teacher could frame the problem
as a need to move a minimum of 500 cars a day across a 500 foot wide river that is
fast-flowing, with banks that are 50 feet above the river. Now the questions become
How? A ferry? A tunnel? A bridge? Other questions emerge immediately thereafter.
Bridge style? The most cost effective method? The most aesthetically appealing,
etc.? The ideas to explore can be built into the guiding questions. The product speci-
fications in this case will now include a written report and public presentation that
incorporates the team’s recommendations, the rationale for their conclusions and
explanation about how they arrived at them, pictures or drawings of their suggested
solution(s), and estimated costs. The way the questions were asked also classifies
this lesson as problem-based learning rather than simply project based.
Public feedback to students is an important and integral part of every PBL and
should be written into most product specifications. Students through PBLs often
develop new knowledge, and the task of presenting it in a meaningful way to others
helps solidify that learning. The presentation may be to classmates, but often pre-
sentations to parents and other community members, such as subject matter experts
or government officials, have great benefit but sometimes generate some anxiety as
well. PBLs may involve a partner school located some distance away, so PBL
reports prepared as web-based reports can provide easy access to partner schools.
90 G. Ubben

8  Resources

List any material or equipment needed by either the teacher or the students to com-
plete the PBL. For the several PBL examples used in this chapter, necessary materi-
als range from popsicle sticks, glue, and a two-pound weight, to pictures of bridges
(internet), to an oscilloscope, a camera, a computer-based GPS application, 3D
printers and software, presentation software, etc.
Of importance are specific information reference sources that students need to
best understand the project concepts. These sources can be in the form of teacher-­
made worksheets, YouTube videos, copies of textbook pages to read, journal arti-
cles, or the instruction to students to do a general internet search for specific
suggested topics.

9  Student Assessment Rubrics

The way students are evaluated for their work should be predetermined in every
PBL. Because much of the work of students in a PBL is self-guided, the rubrics
become the benchmark for students in guiding their actions and assessing their per-
formance. The two major assessment-related components of PBL are its Learning
Objectives and Product Specifications (outcomes). Teachers should develop assess-
ment rubrics or checklists from these two lists. These rubrics should include both
quantity and quality measures. Assessment rubrics should be shared with students
at the time the PBL is being introduced to them along with the learning objectives
and product specifications. Since much of the learning in a PBL environment is self-­
directed, the assessment rubrics are invaluable in helping the student stay properly
focused on what is expected of them.
All rubrics have three basic components and are generally constructed as two-­
dimensional tables. The vertical dimension lists down in the left margin the skill or
standard to be assessed. The horizontal dimension across the top of the table lists
three or four performance levels along a continuum, for example, from low to high
or performance levels such as novice, mastery, and distinguished. Content within
the table describes what the behavior or skill looks like at a given performance level.
For example, the left margin categories on the stick bridge project might be Length
of Bridge and Weight supported with the performance categories headings across
the top of the rubric being: spans less than 12 inches, 12 inches, and more than 12
inches, and supports less than 2 pounds, just 2 pounds, or more than 2 pounds.
Rubric categories also can have scoring numbers assigned so that a numeric total
can be calculated for the student’s performance.
How to Structure Project-Based Learning to Meet STEAM Objectives 91

9.1  Stick Bridge Product: Performance Rubric

Product spec/performance Beginner (1) Mastery (2) Distinguished (3)

Bridge length Spans less than 12 inches 12 inches More than 12 inches
Bridge weight Less than 2 pounds Just 2 pounds More than 2 pounds

Rubrics need to be constructed for each of the content-specific objectives stated in

the PBL.  These rubrics should be based on the PBL learning objectives and the
product specifications. If the PBL has been developed by an interdisciplinary team
of teachers or it is being taught by such a team, each member should contribute to
the rubric from their discipline. Be sure to include other learning objectives such as
higher-order thinking skills and problem-solving skills in the rubrics to encourage
students to develop those skills. A rubric developed around the engineering design
process can have this focus.
One set of rubrics useful for most PBLs can be developed around the general
objectives stated earlier in this chapter. These general objectives were interviewing,
using new media technologies, writing skills, teamwork skills, problem-solving,
and presentation skills. Additional rubrics can be created for student self-­assessment
and for peer assessments from other team members. Examples of these rubrics can
be found at the end of this chapter.

9.2  What to Do Next

This chapter has presented a useful structure for PBL design and implementation
incorporating the components of a PBL lesson plan most commonly used. While
PBLs can be taught by individual teachers at any grade level, STEAM PBLs,
because of their multidisciplinary nature, have some unique challenges particularly
as disciplines become more complex at the upper grade levels. Team-designed and
team-implemented PBLs focusing on the expertise of teachers from multiple disci-
plines provides opportunity for schools to address more complex projects or prob-
lems drawing the diverse expertise of multiple teacher experts.
While this chapter has focused on the original design and development of a PBL
there are many PBL resources already available from which teachers can borrow,
adopt, or adapt. Many local schools that focus on STEM or STEAM curriculum
have posted on the school web page their PBL curriculum units such as the
Chattanooga, TN STEM school. In a similar fashion, State Departments of Education
have posted on their state website PBL materials for their teachers. These sites often
include extensive rubric ideas for PBL assessment (see West Virginia Department of
Education PBL Library (2017)). Finally, a number of private profit and nonprofit
agencies that specialize in PBL instruction offer professional development opportu-
nities for schools in PBL teaching and also have extensive libraries of previously
developed and tested PBLs (BIE 2019). The reference list at the end of this chapter
92 G. Ubben

Larmer et al. (2015) and Pete and Fogarty (2018) give examples for each of these
type sources.
Here I provide an example of a middle school STEAM PBL, a content-­assessment
rubric, and a soft-skills presentation rubric.

10  PBL Example for Middle School STEAM Curriculum

Topic/Problem/Grade/Time
Robotics: Construct and code a Parallax Boe-Bot (Fig.  1) to navigate an
unknown maze/Grade 9/5 weeks (20 hours).

Fig. 1 Boe-Bot

Topic Paragraph (Introduction and Setting for the Study)

This PBL on Robotics will introduce students to the essential concepts under-
lying the principles of electrical circuitry and coding with robotics. Along
with the study of circuitry, students will apply critical thinking to collabora-
tively assemble and code a Parallax Boe-Bot. Through the use of various
types of sensors and coding, students will successfully maneuver the robot
through a maze. Classroom design teams will compete with each other in a
final event. Students will also create a digital Troubleshooting Guide that
includes tips for constructing, wiring, coding, and testing their robot. The
Guide is to use at least two types of procedural text, including a rationale of
the effectiveness of the images used in the guide. Students will also design a
labeled schematic of the circuitry, including a digital Pop-Up History Blurb of
a chosen component.
How to Structure Project-Based Learning to Meet STEAM Objectives 93

Curriculum Standards
• Graphic Arts: Choose and apply images to communicate an idea. Include
formatting, graphics, and multimedia for comprehension.
• Mathematics: Create an algebraic equation and use it to solve coding
problems.
• Develop geometric definitions of transformations and represent them in
the plane.
• Technical writing: Introduce topics and organize information. Use
domain-specific vocabulary. Demonstrate command of Standard English
grammar. Integrate information into text and avoid plagiarism.
• Physical World Concepts: Identify, describe, and calculate magnetic and
electrical forces, charges, and fields. Use Ohm’s law to design and build
series and parallel circuits.
• History: Gather relevant information on robotics and particularly on Boe-­
Bot from multiple sources.

PBL Objectives
• General(soft) skills
• Demonstrate use of new media technologies by preparing photographs
and videos for a web presentation.
• Practice writing skills by preparing written and graphic illustrated oral
reports and for graphic posting on the web.
• Develop teamwork skills through participation in student work commit-
tees using engineering design strategies.
• Practice presentation skills by giving illustrated multimedia oral reports
to their classmates and others.
• STEAM-specific skills
• Graphic Arts:
• I can choose and apply subject matter and symbols to communicate
an idea.
• Mathematics:
• I can create algebraic equations and use them to solve problems.
• I can define geometric transformations and represent them in a plane.
• Technical writing:
• I can introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and infor-
mation to make important connections and distinctions; and include

(continued)
94 G. Ubben

formatting, graphics, and multimedia when useful to aid

comprehension.
• I can use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to man-
age the complexity of the topic.
• I can demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English
grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
• Physical World Concepts:
• I can use mechanics to measure, calculate, describe, and represent
the motion and energy of an object.
• I can identify, describe, and calculate work, force, and power.
• I can identify, describe, and calculate magnetic and electric forces,
charges, and fields.
• I can use Ohm’s law to design and build series and parallel circuits.
• History.
• I can gather relevant information from authoritative print and digital
sources using advanced searches effectively.
• I can assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research
question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain
the flow of ideas.
• I can avoid plagiarism and follow a standard format for citation.
• I can draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis,
reflection, and research.

Guiding Questions (Not Complete-Examples Only)

• Are you using the engineering design process to plan your work?
• What software will you be using to program your robot, such as PBASIC,
Scratch, or Unity?
• Have you learned to program in this language? If not, what are your learn-
ing options?
• What are the steps to program your robot to go to more than one
destination?
• How do you create an equation to determine the distance the robot has
traveled?
• Are your suggestions in the Guide presented sequentially and are they
helpful for troubleshooting the construction, wiring, coding, and testing of
the Boe-Bot?
• Does your written history of the Boe-Bot component give an organized
summary of the history and development of the invention?
• Does your written Blurb answer the who, what, where, and when questions
of the history?
• Have you used proper industry vocabulary and jargon in your Guide?
How to Structure Project-Based Learning to Meet STEAM Objectives 95

Product Specifications
• Student in teams of three will construct and code a Parallax Boe-Bot with
the goal of successfully navigating the robot through an unknown maze at
a robotics competition with other class teams. The robot should also be
capable of producing sound.
• Students will design and exhibit a digital Troubleshooting Guide for their
robot, outlining helpful suggestions for constructing, wiring, coding, and
testing the robot.
• Students will design and exhibit a digital labeled schematic, including a
digital Pop Up History Blurb on a chosen component.

Resource (Partial List)

• Lessons and worksheets on PBASIC coding from your math teacher.
• Lessons and worksheets on geometric terms from your math teacher.
• Vocabulary worksheet provided by your writing teacher.
• Internet search for YouTube videos of Boe-Bot options to help solve spe-
cific problems.
• Robotics with the Boe-Bot, Student Guide, download at [Link]
[Link]/sites/default/files/downloads/28125-Robotics-With-The-
[Link]
• List of available Boe-Bot accessories.

This PBL was adapted from the STEM School of Chattanooga, TN; see www.
[Link].

10.1  Assessment Rubrics

Robotic PBL Product Specification: Student Project Assessment Rubric

This PBL rubric for student presentation was adapted from the STEM Academy of
Chattanooga, TN, website.
96 G. Ubben

Boe-Bot robotics PBL rubric      Student name:_____________________________

        Date:_________          Grade ___9__
Subject Needs
category Advanced (3) Proficient (2) improvement (1)
Art: graphic arts The visual images in the The visual images (still Graphics detract.
guide improve the photos or video) used in the Do not help clarify
effectiveness, clarity, and troubleshooting guide and content
understanding of the discussed in the rationale
assembly and operation of are appropriate for the task
the Parallax Boe-Bot, and purpose
which is described in the
rationale
Math: algebra Using calculations from Students will program their Equation is wrong
the proficient section, Boe- Bot to go to one or or only partially
students will calculate the more destinations and correct
number of pulses they return to starting point
would need to run the robot Students will create an
in order for it to travel equation to calculate the
100 cm distance the robot travels
Math: geometry Students will generate a Students will explain how Explanation or
program to control a robot speed and direction are program is
to perform the basic controlled for continuous incorrect
maneuvers: forward, rotation servos
backward, rotate left, rotate
right, and pivoting turns
Science: Students will explain how Students will draw their Drawing is
physical world speed and direction are Boe-Bot circuit to scale as incorrect. Labels
concepts controlled for continuous an appendix to the manual. not correct
rotation servos this drawing will include
the total voltage, source, all
switches, and all
resistances
Appropriate labels of the Ohm calculations
schematic, including the not correct
associated voltage,
amperes, or ohms, are
included in the drawing
A calculation using Ohm’s Current discussion
law will be shown at the in error
bottom of the schematic
A discussion of how the B/B discussion
differing resistances affect weak
the current in both parallel
and series wiring schemes
is included in a written
piece below the drawing
A description of how the
Boe-Bot takes advantage of
angular momentum is
included
(continued)
How to Structure Project-Based Learning to Meet STEAM Objectives 97

Boe-Bot robotics PBL rubric      Student name:_____________________________

        Date:_________          Grade ___9__
Subject Needs
category Advanced (3) Proficient (2) improvement (1)
Language arts: The formatting and The suggestions in the Not sequential.
technical graphics make the Guide’s guide are presented suggestions not
writing instructions effective and sequentially and are helpful clear. Vocabulary
easy to follow for troubleshooting the weak. Manual not
construction, wiring, focused on
coding, and testing of the consumer
Boe-Bot
The different types of All of the suggestions in
multimedia and procedural the guide are written
text aid in the clearly and are easy to
understanding and understand, using a
effectiveness of the guide’s problem-solution format
suggestions
The guide uses proper Examples of domain-­
parallel structure and specific vocabulary related
comma usage with to robotics and procedural
complex sentences text are used
The use of domain-specific The point of view of the
vocabulary and proper manual is consistent and
grammar, spelling, and focused on the consumer,
punctuation create a not the author
professional product that
could be used by the
Parallax Boe-Bot Company
Social studies The written history of the The written history of the History research on
history component gives an component gives an sequence weak.
insightful look at the organized summary of the Did not cover the 5
invention and also an history and development of Ws.
understanding of its the invention
development over the years
The written blurb answers The written blurb answers Vocabulary weak.
who, what, when, where, the who, what, where, and Grammar errors
and why it is important when questions of the
history
Grammar and spelling are Proper industry vocabulary
free from errors and jargon is used correctly
The history blurb contains
no more than 1–2 errors in
grammar or spelling
(continued)
98 G. Ubben

Student Presentation Rubric

Oral presentation
rubric       Name_______________________          Date
_______________ Class period          __________
Category/
points 4 3 2 1
Preparedness Student is Student seems The student is Student does not
completely reasonably well somewhat seem at all
prepared and has prepared but might prepared, but it is prepared to
obviously have needed clear that rehearsal present
rehearsed several more was lacking
rehearsals
Presentation of Stays on topic all Stays on topic Stays on topic It was hard to tell
information (100%) of the most (99–90%) of some (89–75%) of what the topic
time. Ideas were the time. Topics the time. The was. It was
presented are organized so sequence of the difficult to follow
sequentially with a ideas can be topics made them the line of
definite beginning, followed easily difficult to follow thought
middle, and an
interesting
conclusion
Eye contact Makes eye contact Makes eye contact Makes some eye Is unable to make
with the audience with the audience contact with the eye contact with
throughout the during the audience during the audience
presentation. presentation. Is the presentation. Is during much of
Works not dependent on somewhat the presentation.
independently of notes or prompts dependent on Is dependent on
notes from others notes or prompts notes or prompts
from others from others
Speaking skills Speaks clearly and Speaks clearly and Speaks clearly and Often mumbles
distinctly all distinctly all distinctly most or cannot be
(100–95%) the (100–95%) the (94–85%) of the understood OR
time, has good time, uses some time, volume may mispronounces
inflection and inflection and has be inappropriate. several words.
volume; good volume; Mispronounces Uses no body
mispronounces no mispronounces some words. Uses language or
words. Uses few words. Uses some gestures to gestures to
appropriate body body language to convey meaning convey meaning
language to convey meaning
convey meaning
Time-limit Presentation is Presentation is Presentation is Presentation is
5–6 minutes long. 4 minutes long. 3 minutes long. less than
__________ __________ __________ 3 minutes OR
minutes minutes minutes more than
6 minutes.
__________
minutes
Comments:
How to Structure Project-Based Learning to Meet STEAM Objectives 99

Student Peer Team Member Evaluation Rubric

Collaborative Work Skills Peer Evaluation Rubric       Name:

___________________          Date: ________          Class
Period____
Category 4 3 2 1
Contributions Partner routinely Partner usually Partner Partner rarely
provided useful provided useful sometimes provided useful
ideas when ideas when provided useful ideas when
participating in participating in the ideas when participating in
the group and in group and in participating in the group and in
classroom classroom the group and in classroom
discussion discussion classroom discussion
discussion
Quality of Partner provided Partner provided Partner provided Partner provided
work work of the high-quality work work that work that usually
highest quality occasionally needed to be
needed to be checked/redone
checked/redone by others to
by other group ensure quality
members to
ensure quality
Time-­ Partner routinely Partner usually Partner tends to Partner rarely got
management used time well used time well procrastinate, but things done by the
throughout the throughout the always got things deadlines AND
project to ensure project, but may done by the the group had to
things got done on have deadlines. Group adjust deadlines
time. Group did procrastinated on did not have to or work
not have to adjust one thing. Group adjust deadlines responsibilities
deadlines or work did not have to or work because of my
responsibilities adjust deadlines or responsibilities inadequate time
because of me work because of me management
responsibilities
because of me
Preparedness Partner brought Partner almost Partner almost Partner often
needed materials always brought always brought forgot needed
to class and was needed materials needed materials materials or was
always ready to to class and was but sometimes rarely ready to get
work ready to work needed to settle to work
down and get to
work
Working with Partner almost Partner usually Partner often Partner rarely
others always listened to, listened to, shared listened to, shared listened to, shared
shared with, and with, and with, and with, and
supported the supported the supported the supported the
efforts of others. I efforts of others. I efforts of others, efforts of others. I
tried to keep did not cause but sometimes I often was not a
people working “waves” in the was not a good good team player
well together group team member
From Bomine Adventures UP3267WS11, West Virginia PBL Library (2017)
100 G. Ubben

References

Bomine Adventures. UP3267WS11 West Virginia PBL Library.

Larmer, J., Mergendoller, J., & Boss, S. (2015). Setting the standard for project based learning.
Alexandria: ASCD.
Next Generation Science Standards. (2017). [Link]
Pete, B., & Fogarty, R. (2018). Everyday problem-based learning. Alexandria: ASCD.

STEM School Websites Using PBL

Buck Institute for Education. (2019). [Link]

Google search for STEAM PBL Schools. [Link]
West Virginia Department of Education PBL Library. (2017). [Link]
[Link]

Gary Ubben  became Professor Emeritus in the College of

Education at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, after a
40-year career. He retired from the University in 2010. He is the
author of over a dozen books in Education and Educational
Leadership. Dr. Ubben directed several international projects for
the college, including a USDS-sponsored partnership with
Bourgas Free University in Bulgaria, where Project-Based
Learning (PBL) became the vehicle for children of the two coun-
tries to engage in a cultural exchange over the internet. His two
chapters in this book are based on the PBL protocols developed
for that project.
Enhancing STEAM Education Through
Cultivating Students’ Savoring Capacity

Shu-Hsuan Chang, Li-Chih Yu, Jing-Chuan Lee, and Chih-Lien Wang

Interdisciplinary integration and the cultivation of innovation skills are important

core competencies in STEAM education. Given major sociotechnical challenges of
our twenty-first century, a state of wide-awakeness is a central component in pro-
cesses of problem framing and creative thinking. Savoring, an aspect of wide-­
awakeness, is a self-regulatory response that involves a person’s awareness/
perception of his/her inner states: savoring has been shown to affect creativity. In
this chapter, we discuss, in two parts, how school support systems can help cultivate
their students’ savoring and creative abilities within the context of interdisciplinary
STEAM education. First, we present results of an investigation of factors driving
the demand-pull innovation in cultivating creativity. These factors involve students’
ability to savor (through anticipation, enjoying the moment, and reminiscence). We
then show how a student’s savoring capacity affects individual creativity, and how
student perceived support for creativity affects their individual creativity through
savoring. Second, we explore relationships between students’ creative self-efficacy,
savoring capacity, and individual creativity, and explain how school support for
creativity enhances these relationships. We conclude with theoretical and practical
implications for maximizing student creativity through STEAM education.

S.-H. Chang
Department of Industrial Education and Technology, National Changhua University of
Education, Changhua, Taiwan
e-mail: shc@[Link]
L.-C. Yu
E-Learning Center, National Changhua University of Education, Changhua, Taiwan
J.-C. Lee · C.-L. Wang (*)
Graduate Institute of Educational Leadership and Evaluation, Southern Taiwan University of
Science and Technology, Tainan, Taiwan
e-mail: jclee@[Link]; gellien1@[Link]
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 101
A. J. Stewart et al. (eds.), Converting STEM into STEAM Programs,
Environmental Discourses in Science Education 5,
[Link]
102 S.-H. Chang et al.

1  Savoring and Creativity

Positive psychology is the key to promoting competition among higher education insti-
tutions; it is a cornerstone for inspiring students to cultivate knowledge, realize poten-
tial, and contribute to society during their college career (Lopez and Snyder 2009).
Savoring is a concept developed by positive psychology; it is a type of ability to appre-
ciate and enjoy an experience (Seligman 2002), including recognizing and treasuring
life’s positive aspects and consciously directing attention to a pleasant experience and
maintaining mindfulness on said experience (Bryant and Veroff 2007). Bryant (1989),
who first introduced the concept of savoring, indicated that there are four types of per-
ceived control when facing an event: avoiding, coping, obtaining, and savoring, in
which avoiding and coping are negative perceived abilities to external events while
obtaining and savoring are positive perceived abilities related to internal self-aware-
ness. Bryant and Veroff’s (2007) study showed that savoring correlates to simple plea-
sure, but not to obtaining. In other words, a positive event (e.g., obtaining) does not
necessarily bring forth feelings of pleasure, but the duration of pleasure can be pro-
longed through immersion and enjoyment (i.e., savoring), which strengthens the ben-
efits of the emotion. As savoring can extend positive emotions, it is believed to be a
form of emotional regulation (Quoidbach et al. 2015). Fredrickson’s (2001) “broaden
and build” theory indicated that positive emotions (1) broaden the likelihood of think-
ing, (2) undo negative emotions, (3) enhance upward spirals, and (4) build lasting
resources to promote happiness and well-being. The important significance of idea this
lies in that positive emotions such as joy and love can induce humankind’s behavioral
and cognitive capacities because it can expand the scope of one’s attention and cogni-
tion. Expanding the scope of these mental activities is tantamount to increasing ele-
ments of innovation, which in turn enhances creativity (Amabile et al. 2005). In the
context of the complex sociotechnical challenges of the twenty-first century, the pro-
cess of investigating problem framing and creative thinking requires one to open up to
acknowledging the wide-awakeness of the inner world. Savoring is the mental capacity
of detecting and expanding the enjoyment of positive experiences or perception of
positive outcomes. Its capabilities include (1) using cognitive or behavioral strategies
to expand or extend the enjoyment of positive events, (2) looking forward to future
positive outcomes based on feeling happy in the present moment, (3) increasing happi-
ness by recalling past positive events, and (4) enjoying a positive event through the
help of a friend or relative. In light of this, the ability to savor is conducive to improving
creativity (Bryant and Veroff 2007). Next, we will further expound on the implication
of the relationship between savoring, creative self-efficacy, and individual creativity.

2  Savoring and Creative Self-Efficacy

Cognitive learning is important in the intellectual process of learners. According to

the self-regulation perspective of social cognitive theory, self-efficacy is central in
the self-regulatory system (Bandura 1989, 1991). Creative students are successful
Enhancing STEAM Education Through Cultivating Students’ Savoring Capacity 103

self-regulated individuals who can control and monitor their learning environment
(Sternberg 2004). In addition, Tierney and Farmer (2002) indicated that creativity
requires the support of personal inner strength; this force motivates one to persevere
to the will for action, which turns into confidence in engaging in creative work. Ford
(1996) views creative self-efficacy as the belief that can influence creative behavior.
There are four main ways by which one can perceive self-efficacy: cognition, moti-
vation, emotion, and optimism. In response to these perceptions, one may produce
behaviors such as choosing, performing, and persisting to regulate human function-
ing. In other words, witnessing the success of others, gaining encouragement and
positive feedback from important people in their lives, or being in a good mood
helps learners enhance self-efficacy (Bandura 1977).
Learners with high self-efficacy are more likely to face challenges proactively,
accurately evaluate their efforts, and show a higher perseverance to their choice of
action. Hannula (2002) argued that learners’ emotions exert a larger influence over
their learning attitudes than cognition. From his original theory of authentic happiness
to the flourish theory of well-being, Seligman, the founder of contemporary psychol-
ogy, has referred to positive education in his works and advocated for educating stu-
dents on the concepts and ways of well-being at school (Seligman 2011). Seligman
believed that well-being can aid in learning and increase creative thinking. He also
believed that authentic happiness is first and foremost a pleasant life, which holds in
store positive emotions involving the past (such as fulfillment and satisfaction), pres-
ent (such as pleasure, calmness, flow), and future (such as hope, optimism, and faith)
(Seligman 2002). Savoring involves the self-regulation of positive emotions. One
classic example is the self-enjoyment and positive experience from savoring through
reminiscing, savoring the moment, or anticipation of such savoring activities, which
produce, maintain, or strengthen positive emotions (Bryant 1989, 2003). Studies have
shown that the intervention of savoring the pleasant life has a lasting emotional effect
(Seligman et al. 2005). Besides improving investments in young adults and students’
learning, documenting the good things in life and reflecting on them (positive rumina-
tions) also has long-term benefits (Seligman et al. 2009). Bryant and Veroff (2007)
believe that during the process of savoring, unexpected observations of new images,
ideas, and insights are gained, which can enhance creativity. Further, meta-analyses of
efficacy beliefs have confirmed that motivation and learning, sociocognitive function-
ing, emotional well-­being, and performance accomplishments all contribute signifi-
cantly (Katz and Stupel 2015). These points are important to the education of students
and young adults (Bandura 2005; Seligman 2011; Zimmerman 2000).

3  S
 TEAM Educational Environment and Support
for Creativity

In the future, the most competitive learners will be those who are compassionate,
creative and armed with interdisciplinary skills. The STEAM integrative education
model is tailored to fit modern educational trends. Arts is integrated into STEM
104 S.-H. Chang et al.

education. The “A” in STEAM can be interpreted as any of three different educa-
tional outcomes: arts learning, aesthetic education, and/or creativity (Clapp and
Jimenez 2016). Csikszentmihalyi (1988) proposed the systems view of creativity,
which asserts that creativity is the process by which the three elements of individ-
ual, domain, and field interact with each other. This model suggests that creativity is
neither fixed nor constant; it is not an individual trait, but a skill that can be shaped
by environment; it can be taught, and learned.
Developing a creative idea from its inception to its execution is an eternal chal-
lenge for creators. Environmental factors may shape the creative process. For col-
lege students majoring in design, creative performance is a commonly anticipated
and highly valued goal (Cartier 2011). In a study on creativity training, Amabile and
Pillemer (2012) suggested that creativity should be studied from the perspective of
social psychology and that efforts be put forth into exploring the comprehensive
development of individual creative behaviors in the social context. Studies have
found that constructive environments with encouraging and supportive members
prompt stronger positive emotions, stimulate creative thinking, and promote their
creativity (Amabile et al. 1996, 2005; Chang et al. 2015; Lee et al. 2016). Bryant
and Veroff (2007) proposed the cognitive construct that social support increases
savoring, thus emphasizing that social support is the most appropriate method for
managing stressful and unfortunate events. The effects of positive emotions can be
especially enhanced through sharing personal experiences on social media (Bryant
and Veroff 2007; Gable et al. 2004). Past studies have tended to overlook environ-
mental factors’ influence on individual result variables through the intermediary
effects of individual factors (Amabile 1996). While emotions are nonroutine, they
are important in self-regulation, focusing attention, and cognitive bias. Under social
contexts such as interpersonal relations and social coordination of collaborative
action, the additional functions of emotions are more pronounced (Hannula 2015).
Thus, based on the foundations of positive psychology, we explored the mediated
effect of savoring capacity in perceived support for creativity and individual creativ-
ity (Fig. 1: Model 1).
Creative self-efficacy is an inevitable topic in the field of creativity training
research. Sternberg (2004) believed that all students have the ability to become cre-
ators and experience joy associated with creation and production. Thus, if students
lack faith, they will not invest time and effort (Sternberg 2004). Creative thinking is

Fig. 1  Conceptual model

Enhancing STEAM Education Through Cultivating Students’ Savoring Capacity 105

viewed as a type of meta-cognitive process that requires the ability to self-regulate

sustained awareness for creativity (Katz and Stupel 2015). A highly creative student
who also has the ability to self-regulate can control the process and display high
confidence in self-efficacy (Katz and Stupel 2015). Therefore, in the context of
ever-changing sociotechnical challenges which students face, the mental processes
of their affects and creative thinking has long been regarded as indispensable ele-
ments in creativity (Amabile et al. 2005).
The framework of the STEAM educational environment sets the stage for inter-
disciplinary learning and collaborative learning, where students can prompt and
promote dialogue between professional fields and create and shape a universal lan-
guage. This interdisciplinarity in turn will be displayed in his/her work, which
becomes the source and motivation for progress for humanity. It also offers a space
and setting for stimulating creativity and innovation (Guyotte et al. 2015; Sochacka
et al. 2016). Studies have shown that school support for creativity has a moderated
mediation effect on creative self-efficacy and individual creativity in award-winning
students, but the moderated mediation effect was not observed in non-award-­
winning students (Chang et al. 2016). School is a work environment for creativity,
where students can gauge the levels of their school’s encouragement and recogni-
tion of their creativity, their teacher’s assistance and support, and the degree of
mutual collaboration and support from their team members. The school’s creative
support directly or indirectly affects an individual’s creative process (Amabile
1996). These direct or indirect effects need to be further clarified. Muller et  al.
(2005) indicated that if both moderated and intermediary effects can be taken into
account simultaneously, theoretical and empirical studies will have more signifi-
cance. Accordingly, we also explored how the intermediary mechanism/indirect
effects of creative self-efficacy influence savoring capacities and individual creativ-
ity in the context of social cognitive theory. We also studied the moderated media-
tion effect (also known as conditional indirect effect) of school support for creativity
in this intermediary effect (Fig. 1: Model 2).

4  Multiple-Mediation Effects of Savoring

4.1  Purpose

In our first study, we sought to better understand how students’ perceived support
for creativity affects individual creativity through savoring capacities (savoring
through anticipation, being in the moment, and reminiscing), and whether there is a
difference between the effects of different forms of savoring capacities on individ-
ual creativity.
106 S.-H. Chang et al.

4.2  Study Design and Methods

4.2.1  Scope

Our study subjects were fourth-year college students majoring in design (industrial
and commercial design, industrial design, commercial design, architectural and
interior design, digital media and animation design, and fashion design) at science
and technology universities located in Taiwan. We recruited this group as our
research subjects because they have attended capstone courses and have experience
in writing a graduate thesis. Using stratified purposive sampling, we received con-
sent from 13 universities that agreed to participate in the study. A total of 851 effec-
tive surveys were received, 34% of which were from males and 66% from females.

4.2.2  Measures

To ensure content validity, the scales we used in the study were from other relevant
research (Amabile et al. 1996; Bryant 2003; Tierney et al. 1999). During compila-
tion, we invited experts to give suggestions on the items of the questionnaire and
revised the questionnaire accordingly.
In the Support for Creativity Scale, we used the “Encouragement of Creativity”
section from “Assessing the Climate for Creativity, KEYS” proposed by Amabile
et al. (1996) as a measuring tool to assess students’ perceived support for creativity.
This scale includes three dimensions: organizational encouragement, supervisory
encouragement, and work group supports. Employing a four-point Likert scale, a
higher score indicates greater support for creativity. An example of school encour-
agement includes “My school encourages using creativity to solve problems.” An
example of teacher encouragement is “The teacher communicates well with our
work group.” Classmate support items include “There is trust among my team mem-
bers.” The Creativity Scale survey component includes 24 questions.
In the Savoring Capacity Scale, we used Bryant’s (2003) “Savoring Belief
Inventory (SBI)” to measure students’ savoring capacity. The three dimensions of
the scale include anticipating (ANT), savoring the moment (MOM), and reminisc-
ing (REM). Employing a seven-point Likert scale, a higher score indicates a stron-
ger savoring capacity. This scale includes 12 positive questions, such as “Anticipating
that good things will happen brings me joy,” “I know how to make good memories,”
and “I like to reminisce about the good times I’ve had.”
In the Individual Creativity Scale, we used a six-point, “Individual Creativity”
Likert scale proposed by Tierney et  al. (1999) to measure students’ creativity. A
higher score indicates more individual creativity. The scale includes nine questions,
including “I try to use new methods and new ways of thinking to face a problem,”
“I think of novel and practical ways to go about tasks,” and “I can find new uses for
existing equipment and find new applications for existing methods.” Overall, after
Enhancing STEAM Education Through Cultivating Students’ Savoring Capacity 107

the aforementioned research tools underwent confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in

AMOS 22.0 statistical software, the measurement models demonstrated excellent
convergent validity, discriminate validity, and goodness of fit.

4.2.3  Statistical analysis

Using the multiple mediator model proposed by Preacher and Hayes (2008) as a
theoretical framework for our study, we explored the mediated/indirect effects of
the three types of savoring capacity on perceived support for creativity and indi-
vidual creativity in college students of science and technology in a STEAM educa-
tional environment. We further explored the significance of the moderation of
creative self-efficacy in this mediated effect, i.e., estimation of the moderated medi-
ation effect. We used PROCESS macro for SPSS (Model 4) provided by Hayes
(2013) to perform path analysis for multiple mediation effects. Through this effort,
we conducted a path analysis for all paths in one attempt, because we wanted to
avoid increasing the 1 error. A 95% confidence interval that does not include 0 (as
determined by the Sobel test and the bootstrapping procedure) is considered to have
a significant mediated effect (also known as indirect effect).

4.3  Results

As shown in Fig. 2, Lee et al. (2016) found that (1) support for creativity has a posi-
tive effect on savoring capacity (the capacity to savor through anticipating, being in
the moment, and reminiscing) and individual creativity; (2) among the savoring
capacities, only the capacity to savor through being in the moment has a positive
effect on individual creativity; and (3) support for creativity can exert a positive
effect on individual creativity through the mediated effects of the capacity to savor
the moment. It is notable that among the three savoring capacities, only the capacity
to savor through the moment has a positive indirect influence (partial mediated
effect) on support for creativity and individual creativity, which establishes its indi-
rect effects. This is consistent with Amabile et al.’s (1996) emphasis that environ-
mental factors can affect individual outcome variables through the mediated effects
of individual factors. Our results also support Amabile et al.’s (2005) research: a
constructive environment with mutual encouragement leads to greater positive emo-
tions and stimulates creative thinking and ideas. On the other hand, our do support
Fredrickson’s (2001) assassertions in the broaden-and-build theory, that positive
emotions can broaden the likelihood of creative thinking. Savoring can maintain
and enhance a person’s positive emotional experience (Bryant 1989, 2003; Seligman
et  al. 2006); individuals can use cognitive or behavioral strategies to expand or
extend their ability to enjoy positive events (Bryant and Veroff 2007).
108 S.-H. Chang et al.

Fig. 2  Multiple-mediation model of savoring. (From Lee et al. 2016, p. 241)

Why does only savoring the moment have a positive impact on individual cre-
ativity? Just as Snyder and Lopez (2007) stated, savoring can be applied when per-
ceiving pleasure from past or future positive events, but enjoying the moment is the
most stable form of savoring. This highlights the uniqueness and importance of the
capacity to savor the moment in creativity training. However, further research is
necessary to elucidate whether this result is affected by other factors (e.g., spirit of
the times and values).

5  M
 oderated Mediatory Effects of Perceived School Support
for Creativity

5.1  Purpose

In the second study, we aimed to explore the mediated effect of creative self-­efficacy
on savoring capacity and individual creativity and to determine the moderated medi-
ation effect of school support for creativity in this mediation mechanism (also
known as conditional indirect effect).
Enhancing STEAM Education Through Cultivating Students’ Savoring Capacity 109

5.2  Study Design and Methods

5.2.1  Scope

As with the first study, we recruited design major students in their fourth year at
science and technology universities in Taiwan as our study subjects. These students
differed from the research subjects in the first study in that in addition to experience
in attending capstone courses and writing a thesis, they also had experience in par-
ticipating in both domestic and international creative design competitions. We con-
ducted our survey in the form of questionnaires, and we received an effective sample
size of 720 surveys. Females accounted for 67% of the sample; and males accounted
for 33%. Award winners accounted for 47% of the sample.

5.2.2  Measures

We added to the four items by Tierney and Farmer (2002), and used a seven-point
Likert scale to measure students’ creative self-efficacy in the Creative Self-Efficacy
Scale. A high score indicates more confidence in creative self-efficacy. Items in the
questionnaire include “I think I am good at coming up with novel ideas” and “I
believe I have the ability to solve problems creatively.” To measure school support
for creativity, the Support for Creativity Scale uses “Organizational Encouragement”
proposed by Amabile (1996) in “Assessing the Climate for Creativity.” This scale
contained eight items, including “Our school has a free and open atmosphere,” “Our
school rewards creative work,” and “Our school has a good system put in place that
encourages creative ideas.” Using a four-point Likert scale, a higher score indicates
that students perceive a greater support, encouragement, and recognition from their
school. Overall, the measurement models had excellent convergent validity, dis-
criminate validity, and goodness of fit after the aforementioned measurement tools
underwent confirmatory factor analysis.

5.2.3  Statistical analysis

We used the Path Diagram Model 5 of the moderated mediated model proposed by
Preacher et  al. (2007) as the theoretical model of our research framework. We
explored the mediated effects of creative self-efficacy on savoring capacity and indi-
vidual creativity under a STEAM educational environment in students at universi-
ties of science and technology and to further explore school support for creativity in
this mediation mechanism, namely, the estimation of moderated mediated effect.
110 S.-H. Chang et al.

We conducted path analysis analyzed empirical data of the mediated effect and
moderated mediation effect using PROCESS macro version model 4 and model 58,
respectively. To verify the research results, we used Sobel test and bootstrap method
to test the 95% confidence interval.

5.3  Results

As shown in Fig. 3, Chang et al. (2015) found that (1) savoring capacity, creative
self-efficacy, and school support for creativity all have significant positive effects on
creativity; (2) both savoring capacity and school support for creativity have signifi-
cant positive effects on creative self-efficacy; (3) school support for creativity has a
significant positive moderated effect between creative self-efficacy and individual
creativity; (4) the mediated effect of creative self-efficacy can cause savoring to
have a significant positive effect on individual creativity – this is the partial media-
tion effect; and (5) school support for creativity had effects of positively moderated
mediation relationships between savoring capacity and individual creativity via cre-
ative self-efficacy. In particular, the moderated mediation effect of school support
for creativity occurred only between creative self-efficacy and individual creativity
(Stage 2), but not between savoring capacity and creative self-efficacy (Stage 1).
This result illustrates Ford’s (1996) theory of creative action, which proposes that
motive determines one’s performance in creativity or adherence to the habit of
action, in which capability beliefs and emotions are the most important motivational

Fig. 3  Moderated mediatory model of perceived school support for creativity (Chang et al. 2015,
p. 408)
Enhancing STEAM Education Through Cultivating Students’ Savoring Capacity 111

factors. Just as savoring is one of the regulatory strategies of positive emotions, it

also correlates strongly with state and trait positive emotions (Livingstone and
Srivastava 2012), and enhancing savoring can promote the individual utility of those
with few positive experiences (Hurley and Kwon 2013). One possible reason is col-
lege students need more positive psychological source material to build cognitive
structure. At the same time, there needs to be more practice so that there are more
opportunities to reconstruct cognitive structure – in other words, so that the recon-
structed cognitive structure has a chance to grow. Thus, college students could ben-
efit from more opportunities to learn positive mental capacities and to develop state
and trait positive emotions and rich positive experiences. This idea highlights the
urgency of implementing positive education during learning in college.

6  Theory and Practical Implications

STEM and STEAM show that future education continues to improve learning
through various routes. As educators, we can understand today’s social progress by
viewing from the life course perspective. From promoting educational practices, it
is clear that in addition to building a supportive external environment, arousing
students’ subjectivity is even more important, because it activates thinking and
anticipation for a better future, becoming a force in social progress and a source for
goodwill and intellect. Root-Bernstein et al. (2011) proposed the ArtScience con-
cept, which integrates all human knowledge through the process of exploration and
invention and combines synthetic experience with analytical exploration to provide
new ways to explore cultural, social, and human experiences. Savoring is a type of
capacity that controls inner self-perception. Just as Greene (1995) calls for teachers
to train students to actively learn, critically inquire, and be wide awake, its value is
its outwardly moving inner mental activity that reflects in the self but is also aware
of the interactions between the self and others, envisaging new possibilities for our
society through social practice.
Based on these results, we concluded from our first study that savoring capacity
has its roots in positive psychology. From the perspective of Amabile’s componen-
tial theory of creativity and social psychology, we conclude that external environ-
mental factors (e.g., perceived support for creativity) exert influence over one’s
creativity performance through an individual’s emotional factors (i.e., savoring
capacity). Because savoring ability varies from person to person, we aimed to
explore the intermediary role of its multiple facets in creative support and individual
creativity. The results confirmed that the mediated effect of savoring the moment on
support for creativity and individual creativity. This conclusion more importantly
highlights the significance and importance of savoring capacity in cultivating cre-
ative talents in addition to providing support for empirical studies on savoring
capacity in creativity. We based our second study on the importance of building
self-efficacy in students, cross-fertilizing ideas, and encouraging creative collabora-
tion in creative education (Sternberg and Williams 2003). Self-efficacy is an impor-
112 S.-H. Chang et al.

tant factor in predicting behavioral performance and has garnered the attention of
other researchers. We continue the discussion of our first study to elucidate the
mechanism of the creative process, by which savoring capacity increases creativity
through creative self-efficacy. First, we discovered that savoring capacity has a posi-
tive influence over creative self-efficacy, and this finding leaves a concrete contribu-
tion to the accumulated empirical studies on savoring and creative self-efficacy.
Second, and more importantly, our study confirmed the significance of the mediated
effects of creative self-efficacy on savoring capacity and individual creativity. We
believe that the present study further highlights the significance of savoring in theo-
ries of creativity and contributes to training creative talent. Third, our study by the
dual stage moderated mediation effect of school support for creativity further
explored savoring capacity research.
The results of our two studies have at least three educational implications for
cultivating interdisciplinary/creative talents. Our first study showed that support for
creativity has a positive impact on all three aspects of savoring capacity. However,
only the capacity to savor the moment had an important mediated effect in support-
ing creativity and individual creativity. Creative self-efficacy plays an important
mediated role between savoring capacity and individual creativity. Under this medi-
ated mechanism, school support for creativity is conducive to moderating the influ-
ence between creative self-efficacy and individual creativity. From this, we
recommend that schools mold an environment that supports creativity – an environ-
ment where teachers model this attribute and can provide students encouragement
and support, and in which team members collaborate and share and celebrate the
outcomes of their creativity. A mechanism and method for encouraging creativity
should be established, and enhancing the school’s creative atmosphere should
become the norm for inspiring students to achieve creativity. Second, we recom-
mend that schools establish a positive psychology course so that students can
strengthen their positive psychological experience and pursuit during their studies
in order to enhance students’ self-efficacy.
We especially recommend giving more support and encouragement or a positive
perspective to view competition results to students who have not won awards (e.g.,
a more extensive cognitive significance and value to view participation/nonpartici-
pation and award-winning/non-award winning). Additionally, methods that enhance
savoring capacity can be applied to the curriculum design of creative education to
sustain improvement in cultivating students’ savoring capacity, including (1) savor-
ing the details of everyday life (daily vacation practice), (2) making connections
between relevant positive thinking from positive events that happened at different
times (i.e., retrospect on life), and (3) focusing attention on savoring (camera exer-
cise). Finally, we recommend that teachers and students participate in courses that
offer new approaches for empowering teachers/students to cultivate STEAM quali-
ties and innovative, calculated ways of thinking. We encourage students to partici-
pate in intra or interschool and international creativity competitions to enhance their
confidence. We suggest that schools organize intercollegiate creativity exchange to
learn from each other’s work and lay out plans for improvement, thus continuing to
enhance students’ confidence.
Enhancing STEAM Education Through Cultivating Students’ Savoring Capacity 113

“A swallow cannot beget a season of spring.” We hope that this chapter arouses
the attention of industries, education, and research to cultivate savoring and innova-
tion according to the different stages of a talent’s career and to provide effective
training strategies.

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Dr. Shu-Hsuan Chang  is currently a distinguished professor of

the Department of Industrial Education and Technology as well as
the dean of College of Technology, National Changhua University
of Education (NCUE), Taiwan. Her research i­nterests include the
cultivation of creativity/imagination, innovation and entrepre-
neurships, and engineering & technological education.

Dr. Li-Chih Yu  is currently a project manager at IT division,

Delta Electronics, Taiwan. His scope of work at Delta includes
implementation of smart manufacturing systems and business
intelligence in smart manufacturing.
Email: [Link]@[Link]
116 S.-H. Chang et al.

Jing-Chuan Lee  is Professor of Graduate Institute of

Educational Leadership and Evaluation in the Faculty of College
of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Southern Taiwan
University of Science and Technology. His research concerns
school leadership, workplace stress management, workplace
well-being, and data visualization in education.

Chih-Lien Wang  is an Assistant Professor of Graduate Institute

of Educational Leadership and Evaluation, in the Faculty of
College of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Southern
Taiwan University of Science and Technology (STUST). Her
research centers on the cultivation of liberal arts competencies in
students, inspiring and awakening their innate desire to learn and
their inherent potential to be creative/imaginative/innovative, and
human resource development.
Science, Youth, and Integration: The Quest
for Mindfulness Through Birding

Erin A. Ingle and Mike Mueller

1  Introduction

We start with a definition of what it means to be mindful in science education and

then describe the unveiling of birding habitats across Alaska’s public schools for
cultivating mindfulness among youth and their teachers. Then we will tell the story
of how the Youth Birding Alaska (YBA) project developed, and how it serves as an
example of STEAM (that is, by explicitly recognizing how the visibility of the arts
in science can enhance scientific inquiry). The story of this project will be told from
the authors’ conversations and perspectives of YBA.
YBA emerged from a small village in rural Alaska. Mike had been forging a
relationship with the Lake and Peninsula School District for 3 years before, and that
effort was rewarded when the district paid for his graduate students to fly to
Newhalen or Naknek to participate in a biannual weeklong academic event orga-
nized around athletics. For this event, youth were flown from 12 villages to
Newhalen, a village located within a Pennsylvania-sized region in Alaska. Newhalen
has 200 residents and is located on the northern end of Lake Iliamna, near the
Iliamna volcano. Naknek, a village on the southwestern corridor of Bristol Bay
where the largest sockeye salmon migration in the world occurs, and its next-door
neighbor, King Salmon, have a combined population of 850. This number swells to
10,000 in the summer due to the salmon migration. The event in Newhalen, dubbed
AA (Academic and Athletic week), generally occurs in the spring, whereas the
event in Naknek occurs in the fall. Up to 15 graduate students from the University
of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) have the opportunity to work with village youth (more

E. A. Ingle · M. Mueller (*)

University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage, AK, USA

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 117

A. J. Stewart et al. (eds.), Converting STEM into STEAM Programs,
Environmental Discourses in Science Education 5,
[Link]
118 E. A. Ingle and M. Mueller

than 50% of which are Alaska Native). Much insight about growing up in a village
can be gained from listening to the youth. What might seem unusual to some read-
ers, the perspectives can range from growing up in a tight-knit community, to
­craving the rare pizza that arrives home with someone heading back from Anchorage,
to thinking nothing of the fact that a classmate commutes to school in a Super Cub
airplane. At AA week, youth participate in school governance, a talent show, a sci-
ence fair, speeches, and a prom (dance). Most importantly, these K-12 youth bond
through athletics, such as Native Youth Olympics, which consist of various sports
that mimic many of the skills needed by traditional hunters.

©2016 Mike Mueller, Student participating in Blood Spatter Analysis Lab during the AA Week in
Naknek

The event involves about 120 youth and their teachers, crammed into one school
in a rural village with 15 graduate students and a professor, and is exceedingly
lively. Oftentimes, the sleeping bags in classrooms are pushed to the side of the
room along with mats to make room for the learning experiences that have been
prepared by UAA graduate students; these experiences focus on activities ranging
from wildland survival skills to making cosmetics from the local plants and rocks.
We also engage the students in STEM activities such as building bridges, egg-drop
contraptions, and even a trebuchet. A nuance to this work involves showing students
the value of the arts in STEM designs. This emphasis always becomes paramount to
the success we have with these K-12 students.
Science, Youth, and Integration: The Quest for Mindfulness Through Birding 119

©2018 Mike Mueller, Students observe a trebuchet in action! Naknek

One spring, we decided to do a learning experience focused on birding in Alaska

and building birding habitats at the Newhalen School. Students and their teachers
showed a great deal of interest in this project, and we connected with several teach-
ers at the Newhalen School that wanted to write a grant and build a birding habitat
for their students. The birding habitat would help engage students in science inquiry,
as they designed and conducted science investigations organized around teaching
students about the nature of science. The grant was funded, and the first birding
habitat was established at the Newhalen School in 2017. This habitat consisted of
various types of bird feeders, bird seed, binoculars, a spotting scope, nest boxes, and
a curriculum designed by UAA graduate students for engaging youth in the project.
The first habitat took about a year to establish after a location had been selected. The
following spring, UAA graduate students worked with the youth at Newhalen
School to make observations of local birds visiting the habitat. Chickadees and
redpolls then predominated. Youth made nature journal entries with elaborate draw-
ings of the birds, including visible characteristics factors associated with nature
journals—date, weather, temperature, and so forth. Newhalen youth also began
120 E. A. Ingle and M. Mueller

observing a nearby Osprey nesting on a telephone post not far from the school,
across the Newhalen River. Because the students and their teachers could only see
the Osprey take off and land in the nest, they decided to use a drone to hover high
above it and take photographs that then could be analyzed by the youth. The innova-
tive ideas that stemmed from this first birding habitat become the impetus for the
next phase of funding for others.

©2017 Mike Mueller, Bird habitat at the Newhalen School on Lake Iliamna

Before moving into the next stage of project development, we will first discuss
how mindfulness is being used to frame the way we conceptualized and facilitated
this work with the schools. In her work to develop an educational framework for
cultivating mindfulness through citizen science, Erin uses singing. She uses singing
as a way to metaphorically describe how engaging in science establishes a similar
way of being that is paramount to the way we think about birds. Singing serves as a
heuristic, where the “thing-you’re-doing” cultivates the mindfulness that fosters the
activity of engaging with the phenomena itself. In the same way, bird-watching is a
heuristic (through photographic and arts-based data forms) that fosters the mindful-
ness around an understanding of the behaviors of birds, bird migrations, phenology,
nesting, and so forth. As another example, in her book on citizen science, Caren
Cooper (2018) notes how mindfulness creates positive behaviors through
education:
Advocating for dark skies is a battle against the human primordial fear of the dark. Our
childhood cry for nightlights grows into demands for street lighting that functions to reduce
feelings of fear—particularly fear for personal safety among women. Studies bear out of the
idea that crime is reduced by street lighting, but not as one would expect. Lighting is a
placebo that everyone, even perpetrators, swallow. Lights don’t deter crime by increasing
surveillance ability; when lighting is present, nighttime and daytime crime is reduced.
Science, Youth, and Integration: The Quest for Mindfulness Through Birding 121

Researchers speculate that lighting strengthens social pride, confidence, community cohe-
sion, and social control of neighborhoods, and these social factors operate to reduce crime.
(pp. 188–189)

In a similar vein, Mike has advocated using photographs of the northern lights to
reduce light pollution within neighborhoods. When people in the community begin
enjoying photographs of the aurora, and begin aspiring to see the lights themselves,
or take photographs of them, they turn their house lights off during forecasted aurora
events or when the lights are said to be out. With time, the entire neighborhoods can
get darker as people feel more confident with the darker skies. In short, crime
declines when people in the community agree to more social solidarity; floodlights,
or other lights, decline in value as crime deterrents, as mentioned in Caren Cooper’s
example, above. In other words, the photographs serve as a way (or heuristic) for
cultivating “social pride, confidence, community cohesion, and social control of
neighborhoods,” because people go out to look for the lights more frequently. These
things can be described in terms of mindfulness because of the heightened aware-
ness. Mindfulness then can be said to increase feelings of pride, confidence, cohe-
sion, and control.
Singing, like photography, is an arts-based practice that can be used for engaging
people in mindfulness. The arts are not separate from sciences, but rather are imper-
ative to producing the most robust theories and laws in science. For example, Rachel
Carson (2000) used literature to tell the story of her specimens and the natural his-
tory of ecosystems in her scientific work. There is an explicit acknowledgment of
the arts through STEAM, whereas STEM tends to deemphasize or ignore the very
thing (heuristics and more) that we are claiming vibrantly influences mindfulness.
And mindfulness, as we note above, can lead to increased pride, confidence, cohe-
sion, and control of our behaviors toward phenomena in the world. And here is
where we take our ideas back to birds.
Effectively, heuristics and mindfulness, as revealed in our bird-habitats project,
cultivate a scientifically literate populace that is more in tune with the changes of the
world and that acknowledges the importance of engaging with these changes. Such
is the nature of democracy, when youth and their teachers have unequivocal access
to, and participate in, the local processes in decision-making in the local commu-
nity. In our Newhalen School build-a-bird-habitat project, we began to see the dif-
fuse but important benefits of building a network of schools to participate in the
project, premised on the emerging ideas of citizen science as a heuristic for mindful-
ness. Thus, project, phase two.
The second phase of birding habitat construction led to another funded grant that
provided supplies and equipment for Homestead Elementary School, some 30 min
north of Anchorage, in Eagle River, Alaska. Homestead Elementary School has a
history of engaging students in science even with an already overwhelmed curricu-
lum focused on reading and mathematics. As we worked with the elementary teach-
ers to think about how to also include science while teaching reading and
mathematics, it became even more apparent that we could not separate the arts from
sciences. Thus, a STEAM curricular approach would be necessary if we were going
122 E. A. Ingle and M. Mueller

to move into the next stage of building birding habitats across Alaska’s public
schools. Why more than one habitat? Simply because we wanted students and their
teachers to collaborate with students and teachers at other schools and share and
communicate their findings, like scientists do professionally. Because birds migrate
from all over the world to Alaska primarily for summer breeding, and since Alaska
is expected to change faster than most other places on Earth, under various
­climate-­change scenarios, we foresaw value in building a network of schools across
the state that could monitor birding phenology. Phenology is the study of cyclical
and seasonal natural phenomena in relation to climate. One of the most successful
citizen science projects organized around phenology is the National Phenology
Network (see [Link] We envi-
sioned the Youth Birding Alaska project could “take the pulse” on changing bird
migrations and behaviors in relation to climate changes on a statewide scale. Further,
since Alaska is about 1/5 the size of the entire continental United States, Alaska
alone could provide a wide-sweeping data collection opportunity for analyzing bird
migrations and behaviors that could be of interest to scientists worldwide. We
started to ask some simple but very important questions: Could teachers and their
students become part of a meaningful project for measuring climate-change effects
around the world? Could arts-based data and photography stimulate mindfulness in
gauging Alaska’s phenology? What types of partnerships and networks would be
needed to establish this STEAM-based endeavor?

©2017 Erin Ingle, Erin working with Tree Swallow chicks for the Alaska Swallow Monitoring
Network Project
Science, Youth, and Integration: The Quest for Mindfulness Through Birding 123

©2017 Erin Ingle, Tree Swallow chick

©2017 Erin Ingle, Tree Swallow eggs

124 E. A. Ingle and M. Mueller

The next stage in developing the YBA project involved a Resilient Communities
Initiative. This initiative was funded by UAA’s Center for Community Engagement
and Learning, and through it, we sought to demonstrate the impact that the bird
habitats would have on youth’s ability to contribute to decision-making processes in
relation to the resilience of the environment. At this stage, Erin and Mike co-­
conceptualized the next stage of YBA development: they sought to establish a social
media presence, a website, and added four more schools to the network. Erin co-­
directed the YBA project because of her interdisciplinary thesis work and scientific
background in studying Tree Swallow nesting behaviors with a wildlife biologist at
UAA. Together, Erin and Mike conceived of focusing the YBA project on monitor-
ing local birds as part of a phenology network in Alaska, orbiting around the educa-
tional standards of scientific inquiry and the nature of science in public schools. Our
larger perspective focused conceptually on fostering heuristics and mindfulness. We
also discovered that working with schools in the summer months was almost impos-
sible: we had to wait until the academic year started again in the fall semester. So,
during the summer, we created a Facebook page and website to align with our part-
nering schools. We also convened a meeting of community members to help craft
the vision for YBA: this meeting included principals, teachers, university faculty,
university graduate students, and educators from the Anchorage Museum and scien-
tists from the National Park Service regional office in Alaska. The meeting partici-
pants decided the vision of YBA should focus on bird-related citizen science, with
a mission of teacher training, curriculum development, and increasing awareness
and science identity for youth. The science identity connected with nature and
incorporated multiple ways of knowing (e.g., the arts and Indigenous knowledge)
and phenology monitoring. Learning events were associated with habitat monitor-
ing, related experiences, information sharing, and biodiversity tracking and
observations.
Beginning in September 2018, the importance of maintaining and creating part-
nerships became paramount to YBA’s success. Erin began developing the infrastruc-
ture for cultivating positive relationships with the schools by meetings with
principals and teacher sponsors at each collaborating school. She worked with
Lauren Casey, a graduate student in the Master of Arts in the UAA Teaching pro-
gram, to foster these connections and coordinate habitat designs. We knew that each
of the schools would have different birding habitats, based on the location and the
campus structure in relation to fields, forests, and waterways. For example,
Homestead Elementary School discussed above is located in the middle of a wooded
area at the edges of the concrete pad surrounding the school’s main building: this
location lacked trees and had only very limited grassy areas near buildings. Thus,
we knew we would have to work hard to attract birds to this type of a habitat. We
put three posts with feeders and classroom window feeders within 30 feet of one
another. We knew, too, that posts holding the feeders would need to be robust 4×4
treated lumber and that these posts would also need protection from hungry and
ever-clever red squirrels. So, we worked with Lauren’s husband to design a 4×4 post
surrounded with metal stove-pipe tubing to protect the seed from squirrels. This
design proved to be both ornamental and functional. For another school, like the
Science, Youth, and Integration: The Quest for Mindfulness Through Birding 125

Machetanz Elementary School (located on the Palmer Hay Flats), the feeders fit
right in with the school’s mission of providing arts-based STEM activities for youth;
at this school, we embedded the feeder posts among raised garden beds, weather
station, and a chicken coop containing six chickens.

©2018 Lauren Casey, Posts designed with a special squirrel guard before delivering them to the
schools

In Alaska, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game regulates a suggested time-
line for putting out bird feeders, because of the possibility of bears eating the seed
and becoming a nuisance and danger for local communities. The dates for putting
out feeders used to be October 15; the time to take them down was April 15. More
recently, however, these “open” and “close” dates have been moved to November 1
and March 1, respectively. As we began putting posts in the ground at schools and
attaching hardware to the posts, preparing them for bird feeders, we had several
situations in which the bears simply did not move into the mountains in response to
warm fall weather throughout October. Finally, it snowed on October 31st. This
weather-change brought some assurance that we might be able to put up feeders.
The fact that bears would sometimes enter the schoolyard and eat the seed, and thus
could be a possible danger to children, had us thinking hard about how not to lose
the project entirely in response to fear of hungry bears. Some people in the com-
munity even noted how YBA might be creating a “bear baiting” situation, where
bears would learn that the school grounds served as a place to get food before hiber-
nation. Just after the first fully functioning birding habitat was established, on
126 E. A. Ingle and M. Mueller

November 1, a black bear climbed into a dumpster at the nearby middle school (less
than a mile away): Alaska Department of Fish and Game officials were called, and
scared the bear off with rubber bullets. We crossed our fingers, hoping that the com-
pleted birding habitat at Homestead would not complicate the situation.

©2018 Mike Mueller, Feeder and game camera setup at Homestead Bird Habitat

After birding habitats had been established at the Homestead Elementary and
Machetanz Elementary locations, we put fully functioning birding habitats at six
other schools. Each of the birding habitats has our specially designed posts with 7-lb
feeders, window feeders on the classrooms, and a game camera. In some cases, the
birding habitats are positioned near tracts of forested land. We anticipate that the game
cameras may capture images of more than birds! We look forward to learning how the
teachers and their students end up using the game camera data and we are providing
teacher workshops to help develop the process of uploading the photographs and
other information. In addition to the data provided by the game cameras, we are pro-
viding arts-based methods for engaging teachers and their students in making good
observations. Nature-journaling techniques, in addition to drawing skills, are used to
help younger students develop skills in identifying birds visiting their feeders. Often,
the skills associated with drawing and the arts are most memorable for youth.
Science, Youth, and Integration: The Quest for Mindfulness Through Birding 127

©2018 Mike Mueller, Two types of feeders at a Birding Habitat

We’ve also encountered several challenges with the YBA project. For example,
we had to delay installing a habitat at one school, where the teachers have not yet
committed to sponsoring full participation in the project, even though the principal
and one teacher are interested in having feeders at the school for their students.
Without teachers committed to doing the YBA, the project could essentially be
stalled due to the heavy emphasis on non-science standards. Most teachers through
6th grade have limited time (often, no more than 30 min per week) for teaching sci-
ence. The de-emphasis of science in the elementary grades could stall the project or
prevent it altogether. Mike recognized this problem when we began working with
the schools, so he established a time for UAA graduate students involved in a place-­
based education course to engage the students and encourage excitement with the
teachers over the fall semester. Mike assigned two to three graduate students to each
school, who helped teachers who sponsor the YBA project, which stimulated inter-
est in the project. We recognized, too, the importance of providing continuous edu-
cational opportunities for the teachers.
STEM to STEAM is an advanced way of engaging youth in science and demo-
cratic participation more fully in their local community. One school we collaborated
with for YBA was founded about a year ago, and is based entirely on this STEAM
128 E. A. Ingle and M. Mueller

philosophy. This school is called the STrEaM Academy (r = research), and it offers
a project-based, experiential education integrated with STEM for grades 6–8. We
also collaborated with a K-12 school, Polaris, where the philosophy is similar but
more focused on place-based education and interdisciplinary learning. One of the
biggest issues at Polaris was getting the bird-habitat posts in the ground before the
first big snow of the winter season. At the STrEaM Academy and at Polaris K-12,
we don’t know how the posts got into the ground—but the teachers made it happen,
somehow, because the district refused to do the work until later in the spring. Finally,
the last big challenge is that of having the birds appear. In some locations, such as
Polaris, birds were practically landing on us as we put up the hardware and installed
the feeders. But at other schools, where the feeders are not near shrubbery or trees,
the jury is still out on how long it may take birds to find the feeders. At Homestead
Elementary school, the posts and feeders were placed on the shadow side of the
main building. So, these feeders may not receive any direct sunlight for the entire
winter, because the sun is so low on the horizon in Alaska during the winter months.
We are eager to learn if the teachers and their students at that school can design
some sort of gadget to keep the feeders ice-free.

©2018 Mike Mueller, These labels help students to ID birds by scale and the scale is also captured
by the game camera for later analysis
Science, Youth, and Integration: The Quest for Mindfulness Through Birding 129

At the STrEaM Academy, students investigate real-world phenomena emphasiz-

ing research and the arts as part of science, technology, engineering, and mathemat-
ics. This school is small and meets in the basement of a Baptist university while
their new building is under construction. STrEaM Academy students have access to
teachers who are specifically interested in engaging them in the environment sur-
rounding the school for all their classes. Teachers purposely select to work at the
STrEaM Academy for its projects-based approach to learning, and we anticipate
some interesting investigations by its students. Each school has a unique landscape
for engaging students in the birding habitats. For example, Machetanz Elementary
is in a very windy area of the Matanuska/Susitna Valley, and teachers there antici-
pate investigating which types of seed are more resilient than others, with respect to
staying in the feeders and while still attracting birds. Because of their proximity to
the Palmer Hay Flats, teachers and students at this school also see migratory birds,
such as Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese, that forage on the school’s ball field.
Another example of what students may observe (depending on their location) is at
the Newhalen School. Students there have opportunities to investigate the behaviors
of Osprey nesting nearby, because they are at a remote village location near the larg-
est lake in Alaska. Where we originally thought different locations made it difficult
to have similar protocol for investigating birds, we discovered, instead, that the dif-
ferent locations work to the benefit of the project as a whole. In this way, we count
on finding locations across the state where the locations themselves are what make
the difference. At the same time, some bird species, such as the red-breasted nut-
hatch and the black-capped chickadee, are more cosmopolitan: these species visit
feeders at virtually every location, and since they don’t migrate, we expect them to
visit often. One challenge at schools in remote villages across Alaska is that we have
to rely on distance technologies for communicating with the teachers and their stu-
dents, and we have relatively few opportunities to send graduate students out to
invigorate students and teachers at these schools about the project. Also, we don’t
know the extent to which they are using the equipment and actually engaging stu-
dents in birding. However, we fortunately found a retired science teacher who has
agreed to travel to school sites and help set up equipment and work with the schools
when we get that grant funded.
130 E. A. Ingle and M. Mueller

©2018 Mike Mueller, Youth Birding Alaska website

Some schools we’re partnering with, such as Romig Middle School, offer the
opportunity for an arts focus, specifically music education. In this case, the students
have a chance to go on to the nationally competitive high school choir or orchestra.
While we hope that all the schools in our network will embrace and cultivate the arts
through science inquiry, the middle school model used at Romig offers very high-­
quality opportunities for this outcome. Since we weren’t able to get posts in the
ground at this school, we had to resort to hanging feeders from the trees and shrub-
bery next to the classrooms. Fortunately, Romig had more bird habitats already in
place than we first anticipated, because it is nearest to the downtown area.
Bartlett High School is another school we are working with. Here, too, we were
unable to get posts in the ground before the first heavy snowfall of the winter sea-
son. Further, Bartlett is surrounded by trees so that at this location, we may not need
posts in the ground at all. In short, the habitats differ considerably from one location
to another, and the equipment differs to some degree, as well, so the birds will differ
as well. The larger purpose of engaging kids in birding is really at the heart of the
project, and that is how we will finish this chapter.
With rapid climate changes occurring already in Alaska, the future of the region is
not well known. Last year, for the first time ever, the Alaska Department of Fish and
Science, Youth, and Integration: The Quest for Mindfulness Through Birding 131

Game prohibited all salmon fishing on the Kenai River, a popular destination for tour-
ists and one of the most intensively fished rivers in the state. Other areas also received
emergency orders that limited fishing. The problem was that the escapement goals for
salmon were frighteningly low. In other words, very few salmon were migrating up
the rivers, for the first time in a long time. Climate changes were thought to be respon-
sible. Warmer ocean temperatures that decreased salmon food supply were said to
have impacted the number of salmon actually migrating up the rivers. When escape-
ment goals are very low, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game protects the viabil-
ity of future stocks by limiting salmon fishing. In the same way, Alaska is experiencing
warmer temperatures during the fall and winter months. Recall how the bear inadver-
tently became part of our project, in the story relayed earlier. This, too, could be a
climate-change situation. Warmer temperatures are responsible for late snow accumu-
lations and encourage precipitation in the form of rain, when normally it would be
snowing. Now, it is not uncommon for the temperatures to be in the mid-40s and
mid-50s during December and January. With these warmer winter temperatures,
spring arrives earlier and insects, such as mosquitos, arrive on the scene much earlier
than they did before. Birds will likely follow. And, we anticipate observing phenologi-
cal mismatches, where insects arrive but birds have not yet appeared, or birds arrive
but insects are depleted or have not emerged at all. The significance is that birds can
help, as one of several factors, tell the story of climate changes, and that teachers and
their students can be at the forefront of this effort, which may lead to some interesting
discoveries that matter to policy. By involving youth this way, we expect the students
to be better enabled to participate in local decisions. They also will develop an under-
standing of the baseline for the ecosystem they are a part of, which that makes all the
difference when discussing whether something has been degraded or vulnerable.
Most importantly, the heuristic that is the birding itself, through photographs and
arts-based methods of collecting scientific data, leads students to become more
aware of their local environment and become astute about what is happening in the
places where they live. For us, this mindfulness is the most significant part of the
YBA project, and this part carries much of the scientific literacy, functionality, and
appreciation for STEAM. Birding data in the form of photographs collected digi-
tally through a camera or phone, and arts-based drawings, paintings, and so forth
will help lead students to mindfulness. The heuristic and mindfulness may lead
students to careers in STEM or even in the arts. With declining oil prices and reve-
nues for the state of Alaska, ecotourism may become part of the next big wave of the
economic base for Alaska. Students who are prepared to understand science inquiry,
research communication, decision-making, and we hope, talking to youth in other
places around the world about their birds, will be the innovators of this new econ-
omy. As we continue to build the YBA network and add more schools to the project,
we hope to include science kits that teachers can use to teach their students about
birds, and we would like to organize conferences that bring together student teams
to present their work at a type of youth summit. We also hope to offer more exciting
132 E. A. Ingle and M. Mueller

teacher workshops and conferences as the project grows, and bring the teachers
together to help celebrate the ways they are engaging youth in birding. We hope
these things when taken together will positively influence social pride, confidence,
community cohesion, and social control of the places where project participants
live, and ultimately, make youth birding a necessary endeavor.

Acknowledgments  The authors thank the Center for Community Engagement and Learning and
Northern Journeys for providing the funding for supplies and student assistants to build the birding
habitats described in our chapter.

References

Carson, R. (2000). Silent spring. New York: Penguin.

Cooper, C. (2018). Citizen science  – How ordinary people are changing the face of discovery.
New York: Overlook.

Erin Alexander Ingle  is a graduate student working on Masters

degrees in teaching and biology focused on citizen science. She
co-directs the Youth Birding Alaska project. Her goal is to inspire
and facilitate curiosity in the local environment with children.

Mike Mueller  is a Professor of Secondary Education (PhD)

with expertise in environmental and science education at the
University of Alaska Anchorage. He is the director of Youth
Birding Alaska and fosters the value of biodiversity, cultural
diversity, and nature with teachers.
The Role of STEAM in a Sustainable
World

Shushman Choudhury, Sohn Cook, and Brittany Bennett

Professor Nichols enters the lecture hall for her Construction Engineering class.
Today’s discussion is on bridges. She describes a hypothetical city and mentions
several potential locations. Then she asks the students for their opinions on the most
important and relevant questions to ask in the design phase. Some queries involve
expected technical issues—the nature of the soil, the anticipated amount of usage,
the anticipated budget, and so on. However, she also gets several questions about
the impact of the bridge on the surrounding flora and fauna, the opinions of people
in the surrounding communities, and the long-term viability of the bridge.

1  Introduction

When we think of STEAM education programs, the idea of sustainability as an

integral component often does not come to mind. We tend to view sustainability as
a niche of environmental or energy engineering, or as an optional component of
other engineering disciplines. However, the current and projected future state of
climate and worldwide resources is such that sustainability needs to become an
intrinsic part of an engineering education. Therefore, we need to incorporate
sustainability-­related ideas and concerns from the ground up, while planning and

S. Choudhury (*)
Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
e-mail: schoudhury@[Link]
S. Cook
Engineers for a Sustainable World, Orange County, CA, USA
B. Bennett
Engineers for a Sustainable World, Denver, CO, USA

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 133

A. J. Stewart et al. (eds.), Converting STEM into STEAM Programs,
Environmental Discourses in Science Education 5,
[Link]
134 S. Choudhury et al.

designing small- and large-scale projects and initiatives. Otherwise, we have little
hope that humanity can persist in our increasingly fragile ecosystem.
At Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW), we believe in building better engi-
neers for a better, sustainable world. In this chapter, we show how incorporating the
arts into an engineering approach to solving sustainability challenges leads to better
solutions. The journey to a sustainable world must run on STEAM, and we outline
how we foresee this can happen. To illustrate our values and principles in practice,
we describe two projects that ESW has undertaken—a vertical garden at UC
Berkeley and the Undocu-Wall at CSU Long Beach.

2  Sustainability, in Principle and Practice

The term “sustainability” is often tossed around in discussions and is understood

more by lamenting its absence than by striving for its presence. Several definitions
have been used since the term became popular, but the one with the broadest con-
sensus is due to the 1987 Bruntland Report (World Commission 1987) from the UN
World Commission on Environment and Development—the ability of humanity to
meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs.
The Bruntland report itself has elaborate details on motivating the need for sus-
tainability, and the principles of sustainable development. More than the definition,
however, it is the spirit behind the terminology that is important. The basic principle
of sustainability is to evaluate the effects of our potential choices—on the environ-
ment, our natural resources, the local and global economy, society, and other large
systems which we are a part of—and focus on choices that mitigate long-term harm-
ful effects while still fulfilling current requirements.
Sustainability is a multi-faceted issue, occurring at multiple scales in several
contexts of human civilization. It is widely considered to be one of the so-called
wicked problems we must deal with as a species. Clearly, sustainability is far too
complex and extensive to capture in a single chapter. Further, the impact that any
individual can have on sustainability varies greatly depending on their personal
resources and workplace. Here, we direct our focus to a more ubiquitous and famil-
iar topic relevant to emerging professionals—namely, the role of education in incul-
cating the values and principles of sustainability in tomorrow’s “movers and
shakers,” particularly engineers.
ESW is a US-based 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that empowers technically
minded individuals to solve sustainability challenges in their communities. Our
members include more than 50 collegiate chapters and several professional chap-
ters across the United States and Canada. We are driven by a vision of a world of
environmental, social, and economic prosperity created and sustained by local
and global collective actions. Our mission is to help forge innovative, lasting solu-
tions to local and global sustainability challenges by designing and implementing
The Role of STEAM in a Sustainable World 135

sustainability projects, educating and training individuals and organizations on

sustainability policies and practices, and building a network of communities with
a shared culture of sustainability.
We began as Engineers Without Frontiers in 2002 with the aim of promoting
international sustainable development. The organization was restarted and incorpo-
rated in 2013 under the name Engineers for a Sustainable World to fill a gap between
engineering education and sustainable thinking, and help build better engineers to
build a better world. Higher education institutions have prepared students to tackle
the technical aspects of real-world grand engineering challenges, but perhaps not so
thoroughly the broader sustainability and longevity issues.
We advocate for education that works through hands-on projects and initiatives.
Our members work in several areas, from solar irrigation pumps to community
greenhouses to low-cost wind turbines. Since 2014, ESW members have completed
over 250 projects dealing with topics from solar energy to food waste.
While we at ESW are ambitious in our goals and optimistic about the future, we
realize the importance of practicality, because the idea of sustainability often tends
to conjure up (misguided) notions of severe austerity or a minimalist lifestyle.
Therefore, we focus on better equipping budding engineers with the tools, resources,
and networks to design and create products and initiatives where sustainability is a
key feature, not just an afterthought.
One way to achieve these objectives is through our chapter projects (two of
which we will speak about later), where our members work together on something
of tangible value toward the cause of sustainability. We are motivated not just by the
environmental impact of the projects, but also by our members getting the opportu-
nity and support to experience sustainability in practice, while getting a feeling of
ownership about the project they have worked on. Their experience becomes much
more influential this way. From working on ESW projects, our members are able to
apply what they have learned to their actual professional careers. The connections
that they make help create a sense of community, which allows them to overcome
the skepticism that many other sustainability efforts engender. They all contribute in
some way to ESW’s vision for a sustainable world.

3  A Sustainable World

The phrase “Sustainable World” is a part of ESW’s name, but it also has a broad
definition. This phrase is inherent with certain embedded conflicts of interest. In
relation to resources, the world we inhabit is materially a closed system (c.f. Bejan
2016 for an engaging discussion). Of course, technology and human innovation can
transform raw materials into usable products, or create new materials, but these
things in turn require energy and equipment. Therefore, it is not immediately clear
that a sustainable world can allow for continuous economic growth over all strata of
society.
136 S. Choudhury et al.

This dilemma is captured vividly by the journalist, Thomas L. Friedman (2009),

in his book Hot, Flat and Crowded, where he makes the case that three of the most
influential and important factors for human civilization on Earth are global warming
and climate change (“Hot”), extensive connectivity across the world thanks to the
Internet (“Flat”), and rapid population growth (“Crowded”). Friedman explains
how, with increasing globalization and consumerism, billions of people are aspiring
to the quality of life representative of the middle class in the United States.
Historically, people around the world have been deprived of the right to such a qual-
ity of life and the fair access to goods and services. However, on a planet with
dwindling resources and a burgeoning population, we must balance this desire for a
continuous and growing economic output with the ability of future generations to
survive and provide for themselves.
This is where the importance of envisioning a sustainable world becomes clear.
We need a shared conception of what a sustainable world looks like, at local,
regional, national, and international levels. We also need a generally agreed-upon
list of sustainability principles that we expect from our corporations, and hold them
accountable for manifesting them. Those of us who care should engage in self-­
reflection, to help ourselves identify the aspects of our world in which we can
embrace sustainability, whether they are social, cultural, economic, or
technological.
We cannot simply jump into implementing individual initiatives that seem to be
the most appropriate for the immediate future, even if those initiatives are driven by
improving sustainability. Without a robust, well-articulated vision, we risk losing
sight of the larger goal of a sustainable world; we risk overlooking the important
questions we should ask about the effects of our decisions beyond immediate stake-
holders; and we risk otherwise well-intentioned ideas becoming ineffective, or
worse still, counterproductive. A common example is the poor handling of the dis-
placement of local inhabitants near a proposed hydroelectricity project (Mathur
2006). A shared vision of a sustainable world would include the voices and concerns
of the community, and an articulated plan to address displacement, allowing them
to maintain their quality of life. As a byproduct, it becomes easier for a community
to acknowledge and practice sustainability when they are not forcefully displaced.
A seminal thinker on the issue of sustainability was Donella Meadows, lead
author of The Limits to Growth (Meadows et al. 1972) and co-founder of the Balaton
Group. In her talk at the 1994 meeting of the International Society for Ecological
Economics in San José, Costa Rica, she made an eloquent and convincing case for
the importance of envisioning a sustainable world. According to her speech, an
“alternative, sustainable world is, of course, where resource regeneration is at least
as great as resource depletion. It is a world where emissions are no greater than the
ability of the planet to absorb and process those emissions. Of course it is a world
where the population is stable or maybe even decreasing; where prices internalize
all costs; a place where no one is hungry or desperately poor; a place where there is
true enduring democracy.”
Any vision for a sustainable world is influenced greatly by the individual or
organization. For us at ESW, this vision primarily concerns the work of like-minded
The Role of STEAM in a Sustainable World 137

engineers. In a sustainable world, engineers are like the students of Professor

Nichols’ class. They treat environmental impact and longevity not as an after-
thought, but as a core value. When they make decisions relating to their projects,
they care not only about the technical aspects but also those relating to the local
community and the society at large. When they evaluate the success of their
endeavor, it is based not just on the profit made or the targets met, but also on the
resources saved.
A significant change that we want for engineers in a sustainable world must take
place at the root level of their education. Sustainability concepts do not and cannot
exist in a vacuum. Educators should be responsible for teaching not only the foun-
dations of their discipline, but also real-word impacts and events in the classroom.
We suggest how a well-rounded STEAM education program can help shape the
future of engineering in a sustainable world.

4  STEAM Education for a Sustainable World

We will not dwell too much on the general benefits of STEAM over STEM. Much
has been said on the topic already by STEAM advocates (Boy 2013; Jolly 2014;
Feldman 2015). One of the most emphatic arguments for a broader STEAM
approach was made by Professor Guy A.  Boy, from the Florida Institute of
Technology and NASA KSC (Boy 2013). In a world where the collective informa-
tion obtained by humanity is available instantly at our fingertips, the importance of
understanding equals and perhaps exceeds that of knowledge. The abundance of
technical tools and resources enable us to better contribute solutions to society
rather than just consume media generated by it. These traits are essential for moving
toward a sustainable world, with complex challenges that will require innovation
and critical thinking beyond conventional engineering approaches to solve and a
sense of ownership and contribution to the cause of sustainability on the part of
engineers to better motivate them toward that end.
The arts are a fundamental component of the kind of education system we need
for a sustainable world. They inculcate a range of social, cultural, and moral experi-
ences in children. They nurture and expand creativity and intellectual capacity,
which is critical for taking a holistic approach to difficult real-world problems. They
can also inculcate an appreciation for the beauty and fragility of nature and the
desire to preserve it. For any large-scale endeavor to better achieve sustainability, in
engineering or legislation or policy, both of the above aspects are crucial—the abil-
ity to foresee sustainability concerns and address them with ingenuity and the moti-
vation to ensure that these measures are carried out as a key component of the
endeavor.
Since their inception, the arts have been a potent tool for gathering an audience,
cultivating widespread awareness, and inciting social change. This characteristic is
prominent in sustainability, from local drives for renewables and energy-efficient
homes at the community level to the ubiquitous documentary “An Inconvenient
138 S. Choudhury et al.

Truth” increasing consciousness at the international level. Several artistic instal-

ments and projects around the world have been conceived with the intent of incor-
porating green choices and making them aesthetically appealing (Waterglass at the
Toronto Harbourfront Centre), preserving the traditions of peoples displaced or
affected by climate change (Song of the Bird King), and expressing love for one’s
native land or natural environment (the Blue Cow, by Creative Carbon Scotland), all
of which are very important in obtaining public support for endeavors. This issue is
discussed in some depth in Garrett (2015).
To equip professionals of tomorrow with the vision, abilities, and resources to
harness the power of the arts in achieving sustainability endpoints, we must take
multiple related but distinct initiatives with students of today. First, we must moti-
vate them to care about sustainability right from the K-12 stage, over and above the
environmental education in school curricula. Key principles of sustainability—
namely, respect for the environment, judicious usage of resources, and examining
the long-term effects of our choices—should be integrated into every facet of their
education. Arts-based activities can provide practical and lasting means of achiev-
ing this integration. A sustainability perspective can be introduced through school
plays with an environmental message, or through field trip activities that appreciate
nature and biodiversity, or through song-and-dance performances celebrating the
heritage and culture of indigenous communities and their sustainable lifestyles, or
through art-and-craft projects using trash and recyclables—or through any of a mul-
titude of other routes.
A concrete instantiation of this point has been made by Professors Sybil S. Kelley
and Dilafruz Williams from Portland State University, through their articles on
Learning Gardens in the Journal of Sustainability Education (Kelley and Williams
2013) and Clearing Magazine (Kelley and Williams 2014). Their premise is that for
most current K-12 programs, educators and students alike spend far too much time
inside rigid school walls, devoid of any connection with nature and thereby sustain-
ability. Kelley and Williams instead propose using the school grounds and gardens
as a form of place-based education, a key component of sustainability education,
and a means of understanding our niche in the delicate ecological system and devel-
oping connections with it. The school gardens and the larger principle that they
embody allow for “experiential, integrated, and collaborative learning.” In light of
the adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards (2013), Kelley and Williams
make several recommendations. First, plan early and start small. Gradually incorpo-
rate gardens as part of the learning pattern by encouraging students to spend as
much time in nature as inside. Students can continue learning when they are outside:
with teacher guidance, they need not treat the outdoor experience as recess; rather
they can learn, share successes and offer challenge stories to other stakeholders to
increase the feeling of community. Outside the often restrictive confines of a school
classroom with its desk, blackboards, and projectors, the arts become a key medium
of activities and expression in these learning gardens.
Second, sustainability must continue to remain a key issue even as engineering
students begin learning the specialized topics of their major. Many universities now
The Role of STEAM in a Sustainable World 139

incorporate sustainability as an educational initiative. The Change Leadership for

Sustainability Program at Stanford University’s School of Earth, Energy and
Environmental Sciences, for example, provides executive education programs, a
Master of Science or, more significantly, a Master of Arts program to prepare
­individuals with the knowledge, mindsets, and practical skills required to under-
stand and intervene in complex systems to advance sustainability. Unlike the K-12
education in which students may encounter environmental education as part of their
curriculum, in the university environment, engineering majors can go through their
college years without ever being required to consider the implications of their future
career on the environment. This disconnect is problematic, especially once they
enter the workforce.
Consider any large-scale architectural project, like a massive building or campus.
Such an endeavor will have several stages, from planning to design to prototyping
to construction, as well as several stakeholders who affect the outcome. There is
considerable incentive for the building to meet sustainability benchmarks, in terms
of reputation (LEED and other ratings), legislative requirements (Dernbach and
Mintz 2011), and the financial savings from prudent resource usage. An entire sub-
field of architecture, sustainable architecture, has thus become quite prominent now.
However, as we have repeatedly stressed, the challenges of sustainability are quite
daunting, with several interlinked aspects. To address these challenges at the various
stages of the project, it is not sufficient to just have a subset of the engineers and
architects who specialize in sustainability. For instance, it is not enough to design a
building with good natural insulation to obviate the need for excess central heating,
if the construction of the building itself is done inefficiently and wastefully. Different
groups have different subtasks with different sustainability challenges. The most
potent way to overcome these challenges in large-scale endeavors is to ensure that
engineers across the board have an appreciation of sustainability being the need of
the hour, as well as a more holistic and creative approach to the technical decisions
they need to make. Potential employers like government and private agencies are
actively paying attention to the above requirement.
As our previous example explains, in the current job market, sustainability-­
minded engineers are more suitable and, quite frankly, better, than conventional
engineers who do not factor in broader impacts and aspects into their problem-­
solving. Therefore, it is necessary to alter the tone of how the various engineering
disciplines are presented to the students. This should not require significant modifi-
cations to the core curriculum itself, because the fundamentals are always impor-
tant. However, some changes to how the content is presented, as well as perhaps
some changes to the practical and training components, are definitely warranted.
The example of Professor Nichols’ Construction Engineering Class is relevant here.
Computer engineers should be familiar with the immense footprints of electronic
waste and the best practices for e-waste disposal and recycling. Similarly, materials
engineers should be conversant in the life cycle and durability of the various materi-
als they work with, and focus on those that can be maximally reused. Mining engi-
neers should have field projects centered on proper runoff management and
140 S. Choudhury et al.

maximizing equipment longevity. Overall, an objective in every engineering disci-

pline should be to keep sustainability at the forefront, such that students do not lose
sight of its importance. Better, more well-rounded engineers can formulate cheaper
and more efficient solutions to difficult intermediate problems, making them more
desirable to employers.
The arts and the broader humanities come into the picture here as well, for the
conventional STEM approach has not been too successful. A working knowledge of
the humanities can help engineers understand not just their technical responsibilities
but also their social, civic, and moral ones (and there are few moral responsibilities
more significant than that toward the environment). The wider issues that engineers
need to grapple with, which come up in all the examples we have stated previously,
and in engineering initiatives across the board, are best presented and motivated not
in a lecture format, but through documentaries and other audiovisual presentations.
Aesthetics and artistic design are an important component of an engineer’s educa-
tion. Often, sustainable alternatives are viewed as being inelegant and coarse (think
of how eco-friendly toilet paper and hybrid cars were viewed when they first arrived
on the scene), so a fairly potent way to make a sustainable design choice more palat-
able to the stakeholders is to make it aesthetically appealing (some of the best adver-
tisements for sustainable choices now, such as ecotourism, LED lights, and even
reusable tote bags and containers, appeal not just to our environmental conscious-
ness but also appear to be more intrinsically attractive and enjoyable). Furthermore,
incorporating artistic design principles can itself directly lead to a better, more sus-
tainable engineering project, because of the creativity and lateral thinking required.
Third, as students get ready to graduate and enter the workforce, they must be
given support and incentives for working in the sustainability domain. While invit-
ing companies and agencies for engineering career fairs, universities must actively
seek out smaller entities working on renewable energy, waste management, green
products, and the like. In particular, agencies that focus on sustainable design
(whether it be architecture or system planning) should be invited. Job fairs often
emphasize just the giants in technology, conventional energy, and consumer prod-
ucts, to student disadvantage. Vocational training programs and career guidance
counselors should also encourage students looking for work to consider non-­
traditional workplaces and job roles, and help them develop a communication
vocabulary that inherently promotes their sustainable thinking, so that they can
make a difference if they join a large existing company where sustainability is not a
priority. The global markets are slowly realizing that sustainability is a valuable
investment for the future; however, universities should stay ahead of that curve to
make it easier for their largest resource, students, to contribute to this trend.
The importance of a well-rounded STEAM curriculum at all levels is clear. From
imbibing an appreciation for the beauty and fragility of nature at an early stage to
encouraging creative solutions to technical problems in college and to developing
the tools of expression and advocacy at the workplace, incorporating the Arts into
STEM domains to advance sustainability endpoints seems natural. In the following
The Role of STEAM in a Sustainable World 141

section, we will illustrate some of the principles we described above, manifested

through authentic engineering initiatives. We will do so by discussing two promi-
nent ESW chapter projects.

5  UC Berkeley Vertical Garden

At the University of California Berkeley, the Bechtel Engineering Center is used

significantly throughout the year, in terms of student footfall and energy consump-
tion. Therefore, it was an ideal location for the local ESW chapter’s attempt to cre-
ate a lasting representation of UC Berkeley’s commitment to sustainability, through
a beautiful vertical garden.
Pugh et al. (2012) showed that vertical gardens can reduce levels of NO2 and fine
particulate matter (PM10) in the surrounding area by up to 15% and 23%, respec-
tively. Reductions of this magnitude cannot generally be achieved just by planting
trees. These vertical gardens can also reduce wall surface temperatures by up to 50
degrees Fahrenheit via evapotranspirative cooling and provide thermal insulation
when outside temperatures drop. Collectively, these features reduce overall energy
consumption, and based on the Bechtel garden’s size, an estimated 256 kWh is
saved per month.
The garden will also help boost pollinator populations. Native plants in California
can attract and sustain wild pollinator populations. The vertical gardens contain
several varieties of plants, which benefit pollinators such as native bees (e.g., bum-
blebee, sweat bee, and mining bee), butterflies (e.g., California tortoiseshell), and
humming birds (Fig. 1).
Following ESW’s holistic approach, the chapter plans to use sustainably sourced
untreated redwood for the garden framework, and recycled materials for the mosaic
of the famous UC Berkeley bear. To aid in improving the mental health and well-­
being of viewers, the team will emphasize aesthetically pleasing and uplifting envi-
ronments for the garden. To increase engagement by visitors and to enhance their
learning experience, a website will be created with educational information about
the health and environmental benefits of the vertical garden, and information about
the plants.
However, the real centerpiece is the team’s incorporation of artistic aesthetic into
the engineering design. Project leader Susanna Ming-Yu Dang revealed that she was
inspired by other vertical garden designs, including a garden at the San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art. One of the design requirements the team devised was to
improve the mental health of students on campus. The team’s solution was to con-
sider the layout of the plant beds and arranging them to create the 28th official
golden bear on the Berkeley campus. The California golden bear is the mascot of
UCB, and as a symbol, it inspires strong feelings of attachment and loyalty among
the students, faculty, and alumni. Having a golden bear on the vertical garden would
142 S. Choudhury et al.

Fig. 1  Final design for the vertical garden at the University of California-Berkeley. The ESW
chapter considered sustainable/recycled materials, colors, textures, and plant arrangement for our
final design. Their wall will incorporate sustainably sourced redwood, recycled mosaic bear, and
several species of drought-resistant plants that include California native plants, succulents, herbs,
and flowering perennials. (© 2018 Sohn Cook)

be a potent way to engage the community. Although she never worked on a STEAM
project in her classwork, Susanna and her peers at UC Berkeley recognized the
importance of leveraging an artistic framework to help their project meet its design
requirements.

6  Undocuversity

Undocumented students in the United States have recently had their daily lives and
future plans put under considerable uncertainty. Given that they are a minority com-
pared to the rest of the student population, their troubles and struggles often go
unnoticed, which further enhances the feeling of isolation and lack of agency.
At the California State University Long Beach (CSULB), Jeff Ogle, a senior in
international studies, felt that it was high time to raise awareness about the issues
faced by undocumented students, their rights and protections, the services that
CSULB offers them via the newly opened “Dream Success Center,” and legislation,
The Role of STEAM in a Sustainable World 143

both now and in the future, which may affect their status. The aptly named
“Undocuversity” is a long-term project he conceived to achieve this goal. Jeff became
interested in immigration and undocumented students during his major, particularly
due to study abroad in Spain and Costa Rica, and his Latin American studies.
Undocuversity had various suggested components—panel talks with students
and community representatives about questions and concerns, screening related
short films and documentaries, and so on. The local ESW chapter was involved with
the Undocu-Wall, an interactive display on campus which students could use to
share their experiences through writing and art. Verbal discussions at scheduled
times are not the only means through which people wish to express themselves. The
display allows them to use that with which they are most comfortable, to best get
their message across.
Initially, the “Undocuversity” project was to be comprised of five pieces repre-
senting a solid wall between Mexico and the United States similar to an art installa-
tion in Downtown Los Angeles. However, after meeting with students and faculty,
Ogle realized the political and psychological impact a wall could have on the undoc-
umented community on campus. Most notably, vandalism and graffiti were the larg-
est concerns by dissentients. The installation changed. The once-solid wall was
separated into two larger pieces so individuals could freely walk through the instal-
lation. It had art. It was more inviting than isolated. It was a symbolic representation
of “opening” the barriers that have blocked off the two countries for more than two
decades.
There would be large structures placed in a public area with considerable foot
traffic, so it had to be designed and created to be stable and secure, and of course in
a sustainable manner. The original design consisted of five structures made of
­custom wooden pallets and a sturdy concrete foundation supported by a metal pole
fixed to the ground (Fig.  2). A durable and smooth surface, such as Plexiglass,
would be drilled and fastened onto both sides of the pallets. After Ogle’s team went
over their concept design, ESW project members examined every nook and cranny
of the design and materials chosen. Sustainability wise, while the wooden pallets
and concrete foundation were more sustainable than a prefabricated display metal
and glass display board, building custom pallets and sourcing fresh concrete would
produce more waste and carbon emissions. Plexiglass was another problematic
material; it was expensive, heavy, and difficult to fabricate custom sizes. Reusing
existing pallets and using recycled concrete would not only be more sustainable, but
many of these materials can be sourced locally. The team obtained wooden reclaimed
pallets donated by a local motorcycle dealer. Recycled concrete was cured in the
College of Engineering Geotechnical Lab. The expensive Plexiglass was replaced
with recycled thick card stock paper.
As the construction proceeded, the project team grew concerned that an overload
of messages would overwhelm passers-by. They were swarming with ideas of how
to incorporate these large visuals and images of real immigrants on to pieces of
cardboard. One suggestion was to have the boards painted with large portraits or
images. Contacting the campus art department, the team came across visiting artist,
Narsiso Martinez. Martinez’s artwork is a portrait collection of agricultural workers
144 S. Choudhury et al.

Fig. 2  Design sketch for the Undocu-Wall which was used for the construction on the CSULB
campus. (© 2018 Sohn Cook)

painted or drawn on recycled produce boxes he collects from grocery stores. The
design was remade incorporating Martinez’s produce boxes as the backdrop and his
haunting portraits featuring the struggles of immigrant field workers. With many
revisions, the final product took two and a half months from conception to construc-
tion (Fig. 3).
The common takeaway from both of these projects, as it relates to the thesis of this
chapter, is that two student teams independently decided that artistic concerns would
improve their engineering design. In the case of the Berkeley team, the project lead
repeatedly expressed that she could not envision designing a vertical garden without
thinking about the visual aesthetic. She could not imagine divorcing the artistic ele-
ment from the design. Both teams expressed that they had not been taught to think
about incorporating art into their engineering in the classroom. In recent years, we
have taken several steps to bring sustainability studies into engineering pedagogy, but
we have a long way to go before STEAM is discussed significantly, and we can prop-
erly harness its potential to train engineers to build for a sustainable world. These two
projects show that when students are given the freedom to define, design, and imple-
The Role of STEAM in a Sustainable World 145

Fig. 3  The installed Undocu-Wall before the unveiling ceremony. (© 2018 Sohn Cook)

ment their own initiatives, they are able to take advantage of modern trends in engi-
neering pedagogy that have not yet trickled into the classroom. It is time for educators
to think about meeting them halfway, to everyone’s mutual benefit.

7  Looking Ahead

Throughout this chapter, we have refrained from undue pessimism or from using
apocalyptic language. However, there is essentially a universal consensus among
environmental scientists that human civilization has an uncertain future, as a result
of problems such as global warming, overpopulation, impeding food crises and
resource exhaustion, and other large-scale problems. Whether these conditions will
lead to an existential crisis or not is not yet known, but there is no doubt that the
current generation of students will inherit a world with significantly many chal-
lenges to deal with.
Therefore, it is incumbent upon the educators of today to prepare them for these
challenges. To that end, a business-as-usual approach of STEM education for engi-
neers is no longer sufficient, as we have repeatedly advocated. Students must con-
front the issues of sustainability at every step in their education, and be aware of
how to address them. Whatever their field of study or work, they must be familiar
with not only the technical aspects of the applications, but also the larger social and
cultural context in which their work exists. A well-rounded STEAM education is
better positioned to achieve this future, to achieve a future where Professor Nichols’
class is no longer hypothetical.
146 S. Choudhury et al.

References

Bejan, A. (2016). The physics of life: The evolution of everything. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Boy, G. A. (2013). From STEM to STEAM: Toward a human-centered education, creativity &
learning thinking. In Proceedings of the 31st European conference on cognitive ergonomics
(p. 3). ACM.
Dernbach, J. C., & Mintz, J. A. (2011). Environmental laws and sustainability: An introduction.
Feldman, A. (2015). [Link]
stem_why_we_need_to_put_the_arts_into_stem_education.html. Accessed on 31 Dec 2017.
Friedman, T. L. (2009). Hot, flat, and crowded 2.0: Why we need a green revolution–and how it can
renew America. New York: Picador. ISBN-13: 978-0-312-42892-1.
Garrett, I. (2015). Arts, the environment, & sustainability. [Link]
by-program/reports-and-data/legislation-policy/naappd/arts-the-environment-sustainability.
Accessed on 31 Dec 2017.
[Link]
programs-2016-2017/
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Jolly, A. (2014). [Link]
Accessed on 28 Dec 2017.
Kelley, S. S., & Williams, D. R. (2013). Teacher professional learning communities for sustain-
ability: Supporting STEM in learning gardens in low-income schools. Journal of Sustainability
Education.
Kelley, S. S., & Williams, D. R. (2014). [Link] Accessed on
28 Dec 2017.
Mathur, H. M. (2006). Resettling people displaced by development projects: Some critical man-
agement issues. Social Change, 36(1), 36–86.
Meadows, D. H., et al. (1972). The limits to growth. New York, 102(1972), 27.
NGSS Lead States. (2013). Next generation science standards: For states, by states. Washington,
DC: The National Academies Press.
Pugh, T.  A., MacKenzie, A.  R., Whyatt, J.  D., & Hewitt, C.  N. (2012). Effectiveness of green
infrastructure for improvement of air quality in urban street canyons. Environmental Science &
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Oxford University Press, 400 p.

Shushman Choudhury  is the Content Coordinator of Engineers

for a Sustainable World. He is also a PhD student in Computer
Science at Stanford University, researching decision-making for
robotics. He is interested in social and policy issues of autono-
mous technology and how robotics and AI can be applied toward
sustainability.
The Role of STEAM in a Sustainable World 147

Sohn Cook  is a professional and technical writer, wordsmith,

and Oxford comma advocate with nearly a decade of experience
from developing punchy and inspiring copy for nonprofits to
ghostwriting technical manuals for the Homeland Security. Sohn
currently freelances and writes pro-bono for NGOs serving disad-
vantaged, underrepresented communities worldwide.

Brittany Bennett  is the Executive Director of Engineers for a

Sustainable World. After earning a degree in Engineering Science
from Smith College, she decided to pursue a career in the non-
profit sector. She lives in Denver, Colorado.
Transgressing the Disciplines Using
Science as a Meeting Place: The Science,
Art and Writing Initiative

Anne Osbourn

1  The Origins of the SAW Initiative

The SAW Initiative was born in 2004 as a consequence of my frustrations as a sci-

entist. I was established in my field and leading an internationally recognized
research programme on plant natural products – how they are made, what they do
and how new pathways arise. Plants are outstanding chemical engineers and make
an enormous array of diverse compounds. The study of natural products provides an
opportunity to address important questions about small-molecule-mediated dia-
logues between plants and their environment, and to discover new drugs and other
high-value molecules. Although I enjoyed this area of research very much, I felt that
the scientific culture that I was part of at the time was very inward looking, and that
I was beginning to lose touch with the outside world.
Of course, scientists are specialists. They have become hardwired into using jar-
gon and an exclusive vocabulary. To paraphrase Newton, they stand on the shoul-
ders of giants, building on a mass of preordained knowledge. They are intimately
familiar with the most detailed of details in the area of research in which they work.
Specialization is important. Specialized communities, be they of scientists, writers,
artists, builders, electricians, plumbers, doctors, lawyers, teachers or others, provide
a forum for efficient shorthand communication – an environment in which groups
of specialists can function effectively. But if, during the process of specialization,
we lose the ability to communicate with those outside our fields of expertise, then
our value to society declines. Even more importantly, fundamental breakdowns in
communication may put the future of society in jeopardy.
My sister and I are both scientists. However, our parents both taught English, and
we grew up in a house full of books on literature, history and art. I always enjoyed

A. Osbourn (*)
John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK
e-mail: [Link]@[Link]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 149

A. J. Stewart et al. (eds.), Converting STEM into STEAM Programs,
Environmental Discourses in Science Education 5,
[Link]
150 A. Osbourn

creative writing, but the constraints of the school curriculum did not allow me to
pursue interests in literature and writing alongside my other interests in science. I
had to make a choice, and so I became a scientist. I went on to earn a degree in
botany and a Ph.D. in genetics. I moved to Norwich to build my research career,
acutely aware that in addition to being an international centre for biosciences,
Norwich was also home to one of the best creative writing courses in the world – at
the University of East Anglia. Thus it was in 2004 that I saw an advertisement in the
science magazine Nature for a Dream Time Fellowship programme funded by the
UK-based National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA).
The advertisement read ‘Are you a high achiever with ten years’ experience in the
science and technology sector but looking for space to develop your ideas away
from the demands of your professional life? Then you should apply for a NESTA
Dream Time Fellowship’. I realized that this offered a perfect opportunity for me to
combine my interests in creative writing with science and to see whether I could
find new ways of making science accessible to all. Shortly after that, I became a
NESTA-funded fellow in the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing at
the University of East Anglia. I was on an interdisciplinary adventure, supported by
my mentor Professor Clive Scott (then Head of the School). I had weekly meetings
with Clive, but this was not a taught course. My only remit was to find ways of
bringing science into everyday lives and language through creative writing.
To my surprise, I started exploring science and my own origins through poetry. I
had never previously thought of myself as a poet, and was somewhat bemused when
I found myself thrown into this crystalline world of words. In retrospect, I think I
can pinpoint the trigger to my poetry writing. I was listening to the radio 1 day and
heard a programme about Rebecca Elson, an astrophysicist and poet who had died
of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of 39 and whose anthology A Responsibility
to Awe had been published posthumously (Elson 2001). I was intrigued by Rebecca
Elson and read this book, hungry to find out how and why she wrote poetry. Now,
more than 10 years later, some of my own poems have been published in poetry
magazines, and I hope to have my collection out soon (although in my view, pub-
lishing poetry is even harder than getting scientific papers into top international
journals – perhaps that is some reflection on my poetry!). An account of my experi-
ence as a NESTA-funded experimental animal in the School of Literature and
Creative Writing can be found in Nature Reviews Microbiology (Osbourn 2006).
While scientific terminology and concepts may be off putting for many, stunning
scientific images are not. Scientific images intrigue, drawing in children and adults
alike. They provide a meeting place, a starting point for scientific exploration. I
learned this when trying to find different stimuli to trigger my own creative writing.
This led me to establish the SAW concept, a cross-curricular initiative that uses sci-
ence to fire imaginations. Images such as the earth from space, salt crystals under
the microscope and thermograms of houses provide fascinating stimuli to promote
discussion about science in schools. In a SAW project, children explore a scientific
theme through practical science, supported by carefully chosen images that illus-
trate different facets of the science that they are investigating. The theme and the
images are then used as a springboard for separate sessions involving creative
Transgressing the Disciplines Using Science as a Meeting Place: The Science, Art… 151

­ riting and art. The children realize that science and the arts are interconnected, and
w
they discover new and exciting ways of looking at the world around them. Most
importantly, they become interested in wanting to learn, and they begin taking own-
ership of the learning process.
The path to specialization starts early. By the time children leave primary school,
they have already been taught to view science and the arts as separate disciplines,
rather than as interlocking pieces that together lay the foundation for a deeper
understanding of the world. These divisions are reinforced in high schools, where
the constraints of the rigorously compartmentalized curriculum further isolate sub-
jects, stifle inquisitiveness and quell creativity. SAW offers a route to breaking down
these barriers, or – if introduced early in the education process – a route for prevent-
ing them from becoming established in the first place.

2  U
 sing SAW to Explore a Major Societal Challenge:
Control of Infectious Diseases

SAW provides a different approach to teaching curriculum science topics in schools.

It also is a highly effective means of introducing topics that would normally be
regarded as too advanced for schoolchildren, even at the highest levels of school
education. Research into topics such as the control of infectious diseases is relevant
to all members of society. By making such research accessible through SAW proj-
ects, children can gain insights into how science disciplines are used in the real world.
Antibiotics were introduced into clinical medicine in the 1940s and revolution-
ized the treatment of infectious diseases. However, we now face the worrying pros-
pect of a return to the pre-antibiotic era due to emerging antibiotic resistance (and
frequently multidrug resistance) in various human pathogens. Antibiotics not only
play crucial roles in the treatment of infectious diseases contracted by human indi-
viduals, but are also essential components of many aspects of modern medicine. For
example, surgical procedures such as hip replacements, Caesarean sections, heart or
bowel surgery, and cancer therapy all rely on antibiotics; without effective antibiot-
ics, many of these procedures would become life-threatening and potentially impos-
sible. The UK government’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies,
recently highlighted the urgent need for global action to tackle the potentially cata-
strophic threat of antimicrobial resistance, commenting ‘We need to encourage
more innovation in the development of antibiotics’.
The development of new and improved anti-infective therapies and strategies
requires a multidisciplinary approach, involving fundamental and clinical microbi-
ology, molecular genetics and biology, bioinformatics, natural product and medici-
nal chemistry, rapid diagnostics and pre-clinical assessment. It must also encompass
new ways of approaching the treatment of prevention of infectious diseases. In
Norwich, the partner organizations of the Norwich Research Park (NRP) – the John
Innes Centre, the Earlham Institute, the Quadram Institute Bioscience, the University
of East Anglia, the Sainsbury Laboratory and the Norfolk and Norwich University
152 A. Osbourn

Hospital – have a diverse range of expertise spanning from genomics to the clinic.
Collectively, these organizations are making major contributions in the mission to
find innovative ways of combatting infectious diseases.
As mentioned above, intriguing scientific images are central in SAW projects:
they make science accessible and help link the science, art and writing sessions in
the classroom. To help disseminate and showcase NRP science through SAW and
other diverse channels, we established a library of images based on our research.
The NRP image library contains images submitted by scientists from across the
Park. All images are freely available for download and reuse with attribution of the
source from: [Link] The images and legends are
all carefully quality-controlled to ensure that the calibre and resolution of the images
is high and the legends are accessible to non-specialists.

2.1  The Images

The images within the NRP image library encompass diverse swathes of science.
However, for the purposes of the NRP antibiotics SAW projects, we selected images
relating to different aspects of control of infectious diseases. These included ‘bad’
bacteria (e.g. Escherichia coli in the human intestine), microbes isolated from soil
(the source of many antibiotic-producing bacteria), structures of engineered
enzymes that make novel antibiotics, next-generation DNA sequencing technology
for rapid diagnostics, DNA-based antibiotics and innovative methods for vaccine
production (links can be found at the end of this article). These images provide a
visual introduction to the spectrum of NRP research in this area. They also serve as
a freely available resource for SAW projects in schools focused on the theme of
tackling the problem of antibiotic resistance. Other resources are available, some
without restriction or copyright. However, it is often difficult to find fee-free images
that can be used in schools. Science is beautiful. Collections of images that are
freely available represent extremely important resources for schools. Examples of
image libraries that can be used for teaching science in schools (some of them with-
out restriction, others requiring a fee) are listed in the “References” section.

2.2  The Projects

We conducted eight one-day SAW projects in schools on themes relating to differ-

ent facets of control of infectious diseases. The projects were planned in close col-
laboration with the teachers and involved children of various age groups, ranging
from 8 to 12 years. Fourteen scientists took part, working in teams with professional
artists and writers. For each project, the scientist(s), artist and writer that comprised
the delivery team were all in school for the whole day and participated in each
­other’s sessions. In this way, they not only provided their expertise and imparted
Transgressing the Disciplines Using Science as a Meeting Place: The Science, Art… 153

knowledge, but also enabled the children to understand what real-life scientists, art-
ists and writers are like – i.e., just like any other person. Each project began with a
game in which the children were invited to guess which of the visitors does what.
This is a very good ice-breaker activity that challenges children’s preconceived
ideas of what people from these different professions look like. Unfortunately, the
children often assume that the men are scientists, while women are commonly clas-
sified as artists, particularly if they are wearing colourful clothes. Writers, on the
other hand, are often thought to look drab and boring! When the moment of revela-
tion comes and true identities are revealed, the children’s surprise is evident as their
judgements are brought into question. We ask them to put their hands up if they
think the various individuals in front of them are (a) a scientist; (b) an artist; or (c)
a writer. Usually they will only put their hand up for one or possibly two of these.
The children are encouraged to think that they can try their hand at anything that
they want to be. The children are then invited to become scientists, artists and writ-
ers for the day.
The science sessions involve hands-on practical activities. In addition to any sci-
entific equipment available in the school, the visiting scientists may bring other gen-
eral laboratory equipment with them, such as gloves, pipettes, petri dishes and test
tubes – specialized kit that the children are thrilled to use. During the planning phase,
each class teacher gave a brief summary of the children’s knowledge in the areas of
microbes and health so that the scientist could find a sensible starting point for the
session that enabled the children to go on a journey with them to extend their under-
standing. Often, children were familiar with the word ‘germ’ but not the word
microbe, although some had heard of bacteria. Most children are very happy to tell
visitors what they know, and so a discussion at the start of a workshop is always
productive! The science was not oversimplified nor was the language dumbed down.
Children are used to learning new words and they found the flood of new vocabulary
exciting. The experiments carried out in various projects involved setting up experi-
ments to isolate bacteria from soil; comparing the effectiveness of various household
substances (e.g. lemon juice, vinegar, soap) and an antibiotic in inhibiting bacterial
growth; learning about DNA by extracting DNA from strawberries and using a com-
puter programme to compare different DNA sequences; using a handheld sequenc-
ing device known as a MinION to sequence DNA; and playing games and building
molecules to learn about new diagnostic tests. One of the projects was led by a local
medical doctor who showed the class what was in her doctor’s bag. The children
were then allowed to use the equipment to test their classmate’s temperatures, listen
to heartbeats with stethoscopes and pulse meters, measure oxygen content in the
blood with a pulse oximeter, use peak flow for measuring lung capacity, examine
inside each other’s ears and throats, measure simulated urine samples for glucose
and learn proper handwashing techniques using UV hand cream and a light box.
The science sessions were followed by a poetry session and then finally an art
session, each of which drew on the scientific theme, supported by the images, as a
starting point for creative exploration. Each of these sessions was carefully planned
and the children were given direction and encouragement, but the outputs were very
diverse because they reflected personalized responses to the science. Some examples
154 A. Osbourn

of the children’s creative responses can be found below, along with their comments.
These responses illustrate how this multidisciplinary approach to teaching and
learning enables children to explore and grasp scientific concepts and encourages
them to consider the importance of science in addressing major societal issues.
More about this set of projects can be found in the recently published book ‘SAW
antibiotics: Science from the Norwich Research Park’ (Osbourn et al. 2017). The
UK government Chief Medical Officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, very kindly
provided a quote for the cover of this book, which reads as follows:
I thoroughly enjoyed this stunning book. Educating children in such an interactive way is
so important. I am passionate about addressing AMR (antimicrobial resistance), as are the
researchers, and I hope that this can help inspire future generations to engage in the efforts
to save modern medicine.

The importance of scientific intrigue, serendipity and creativity in solving the

major challenges faced by humanity is further illustrated by this quote from Dr. Jane
Osbourn, Vice President of Research and Development at the drug company,
MedImmune:
Antibiotics are a pillar of modern health care which cannot, and must not, be taken for
granted. They were discovered through curiosity, careful observation and creative thinking,
and these are the same skills we need to nurture as we respond to the evolutionary pressures
of microbial resistance. SAW is an innovation tool to do just that; encourage our next gen-
eration of problem solvers to understand, consider and respond to scientific challenges in
creative ways. The work presented here is an inspiring celebration of the beauty and com-
plexity of scientific endeavour and its ability to fascinate generation after generation.

3  The Children’s Responses

3.1  Poetry

Invasion of the plague

The first body of the victim fell to the floor.
Invading the next,
unleashing a wave of unstoppable minions,
tirelessly attacking,
infinitely resisting.
Too tiny to see,
too much pain to handle
the feel of fright.
Occupying the first cell,
changing its will,
cloning itself,
sending an inferno at the body’s defenses,
too tiny to see,
no trace of goodness.
Transgressing the Disciplines Using Science as a Meeting Place: The Science, Art… 155

With one destiny,

only one desire,
growing infinitely,
taking more lives,
outrageously sucking life gone.
Too tiny to see,
to panic.
They’re coming.

The body’s defences are weakened.

its might grows,
destroying the last,
striking down the heart,
its body fell to the floor.
The job is done.
They’re moving on.

Thales (Age group 10–11)

Monkfield Park Primary School

Poem
These little bacteria look like
cupcakes that sit in a tray
all day, ready to rise to
a person’s mouth, but
when you chew they make
your teeth go from white to black, then
bacteria will lie in your gum forever
until you’re older
than ever.

Maddison (Age group 9–10)

Colman Junior School

Enemies
Evil force being kept captive.
Just by an innocent marshmallow heart.
Surrounded and trapped.

Spark, crack, pow!

Evil force getting stronger.
Pink, pretty, poisonous.
Good force overlapping.
Trying to defeat.

Fighting off its every move.

But saving each other at the same time.
Rays of darkness.
Poison spreads.
Intensity fills the air.
156 A. Osbourn

Battling,
defeating,
saving,
overtaking,
enemies.
Amber (Age group 10–11)
Monkfield Park Primary School

Cells
Although deadly,
it carries on
growing and
getting bigger it
spreads knowing
nothing it goes
through life blinded
but although blind
it grows happily
spreading its deadly genes and making
more to replace those
gone although knows
nothing it carries on
and on just like
a large waterfall
and it don’t matter
what we do it will
never stop fighting.

Layla (Age group 10–11)

West Earlham Junior School

War of bacteria
Spreading the message
risking hope
anger, cunning
protecting their home.
Evil flying
time ticking
heart burning
losing all their mercy
unstoppable warfare
gut taking
taking over
brain splitting
tactical planning
infected hearts
live
losing
Transgressing the Disciplines Using Science as a Meeting Place: The Science, Art… 157

spirits escaping
tears dipping
sorrowful eyes
happiness spreads
new plots begin
life restarting
guarding the house
guarding us.

Hamza (Age group 10–11)

Monkfield Park Primary School

The invasion of bacteria

The bacteria moved slowly upwards like beautiful hot air balloons
gliding towards the moon.
Knowing that they could soon cause an infection.
Ready to make trouble and spread.
But suddenly out from nowhere came a brave soldier who fought like a wild bear,
protecting its kingdom and others.
Spoiling the villain’s plan to infect.

Esme (Age group 10–11)

St Francis of Assisi Primary School

Soil bacteria
At first glance, soil may look nothing but boring.
But the compost has a twist and the dirt has a story.
The way to find the hidden tale is to look slightly deeper,
for your eyes are the key and the soil is the keeper

once you’re past the layers of mud and of grime,

discovering the secret is only a matter of time.
Try and get through the insect stage, however gross it may be,
you’re nearly there now, you already have the key!

Just twist the knob on the microscope and perhaps adjust the lens,
and while you’re at it, give the eyepiece a good cleanse.

Finally, you’re there now, the treasure is revealed.

The bacteria are flowers and the soil is a field.
Fluffy, bubbly, a variety of microbes,
billions, trillions, there are absolutely loads!

So far, it’s been fantastic, an eye-opening trip.

A whole universe of bacteria underneath your fingertips.

Mia (Age group 11–12)

City of Norwich School
158 A. Osbourn

Ants
The ants that farm hurriedly,
the ants that scurry alongside each other,
who shield themselves,
who protect their food,
who leak the smell of friendship,
extending their family,
extending their home.

Protecting their nest,

they work hastily,
farming non-stop,
astoundingly clever,
farming even before us.

Pat (Age group 11–12)

Monkfield Park Primary School

We are here!!
We are here,
everything you
touch,
see,
eat.

We are here.
No matter what, we are here.

Your everyday life,

is thanks to us,
your living
is thanks to us.

We are here.
No matter what, we are here.

We keep you safe.

We provide medicine.
We are inside you.
We are what you eat.

We are here.
No matter what, we are here.

David (Age group 11–12)

City of Norwich School

Bacteria
Unnatural bubbles drifting, slowing.
Fluorescent blue bacteria,
Transgressing the Disciplines Using Science as a Meeting Place: The Science, Art… 159

glowing, dazzling little dots.

Masterpieces of the world,
so small yet so bright.
Stars that shine all night.
So vibrant to miss,
yet we do.
Millions upon millions,
their own little world.
Some big, some small,
but so different among them all.

Abigail (Age group 11–12)

City of Norwich School

DNA
DNA is a twisted world with more of itself in between.
This wonderful thing makes us who we are.
It’s like life without choices, but choosing depends on our DNA.
This majestic strand creates with others and won’t grow on its own.
It is us, how we feel, like we are, soft pillows.

Max (Age group 10–11)

St Francis of Assisi Primary School

The microscope
The glass laid by a big metal pillow.
Aroma disinfected of pine or lemon.
Made of metal towers.

Brandon (Age group 10–11)

West Earlham Junior School

Bacteria
Bacteria comes in many different places
and even gets into secret bases.
When people get these horrible diseases,
they start to cough and do lots of horrid sneezes.
Of course, these people try to stop it,
and will probably have to mop it.
When people recover from their illness,
they will have no more illness!

Nathan (Age group 9–10)

Colman Junior School

Untitled
Here are the coins rattling in the coin box,
rusty and dirty.
Here are the tablets curing the illness,
160 A. Osbourn

red, brown and purple

tablets fighting to make me better,
working hard, to cure the pain.

Here are the skulls watching me with every step I take,

cracking and banging against the sides.
I hear tiny noises murmuring and telling me that I’m okay.

Shawnie (Age group 10–11)

West Earlham Junior School

Untitled
Our search for a cure
is failing
but we can’t give up
we are at the edge of the earth
maybe we will go to another
but alas we’ve grown old
so now it is up to you to continue
our fight for I cannot
finish it. So
succeed, for I have failed.

Declan (Age group 11–12)

City of Norwich School

3.2  Artwork
Transgressing the Disciplines Using Science as a Meeting Place: The Science, Art… 161

3.3  What the Children Said

Let your mind go free!

Whatever you do wrong you can turn into something else.
Everything we did was as if we were real scientists/writers/artists.
I learned that not all the poems have to be about what we do, it could be about science
and art.
I learned how to use more of my imagination.
Almost everything has bacteria in it.
Antibiotics kill bacteria not viruses.
If you let your brain go wild it makes a good poem.
I learnt that there are so many different types of painting, wood cut and even bubble
wrap.
All the science surprised me today.
I learnt about the process of how the good bacteria work.
I liked science best because it was fun to learn about microbes and do an experiment.
When you are doing poems you can do it in your own style.
I learnt how to use a microscope.
I didn’t know that scientists can be writers or artists.
I was surprised that you could get DNA out of a strawberry.
I learnt how good my body is.
It is not just about painting or drawing it is also about experimenting and creating.

4  The Impact of SAW

Based on the above, it seems that taking part in SAW projects certainly has an
impact on the children. The children’s creative outputs and comments provide one
means of capturing outputs. Establishment of robust methods for the evaluation of
the impact of educational programmes can, however, be challenging. How can we
assess the effects of SAW on children, teachers and teaching practice? What impact
does taking part in SAW projects have on the other team members – the scientists,
artists and writers? These are difficult questions to answer. Although we gather
162 A. Osbourn

feedback from all of those involved in SAW projects (teachers, children, scientists,
artists, writers) at the end of each project, quantification of the impact of SAW in the
immediate and longer term is problematic. We are currently working with the local
education authority here in Norfolk to set up a SAW hub school that will provide a
central point for dissemination of the initiative to other schools in the region and a
framework for longer-term evaluation.
We do, however, have a considerable amount of qualitative feedback in the form
of comments from those involved:

4.1  What the Teachers Say

The comments from teachers have provided important insights, as illustrated by

these words from a teacher of children aged 7–8 years:
I was asked to take on a SAW project by our head teacher and was very excited, as I had
come across previous SAW work in other school and had been impressed by the high quality
work produced by the children. I was keen that the children should experience activities that
we would not normally be able to provide in the classroom, especially in science. I also
wanted the children to start to make links between the work we do in the classroom and
things that happen in the ‘real world.
The children were really enthusiastic about the day and loved having lots of adults to
work with. It was interesting to see how some children who normally find literacy or art
challenging found it more interesting in this context, and others who didn’t think they
enjoyed science were actively engaged. It certainly gave us an opportunity to work in new
ways and try things we would not normally experience. I noticed increased levels of engage-
ment and enthusiasm from some children. In science lessons there is always excitement
about practical work and I think it has really embedded the theoretical work we had already
done. There were several who took real pride in their writing and creative skills and we
have been able to draw on this success in other lessons.
The most noticeable impact has been in confidence. Having their work on display at the
Norfolk Show was a great boost and the children loved explaining it to the public. We have
since had the work displayed at school and I have noticed most of the class pointing out
their work to family and friends. Knowing that work will be displayed and celebrated gives
the children an incentive to improve and refine their work. We capitalised on the enthusiasm
generated on the day and they happily continued to work on their poems and develop their
writing skills after our SAW day.
The children enjoyed all aspects of the work they did and came away with lots of new
knowledge and enthusiasm. Most importantly for me they came away with lots of questions,
which shows heightened curiosity about the world and forms a platform for future learning.
Thank you so much for the opportunity. The SAW project has been an experience that has
captured the imagination of my class and something they will never forget. I have learned
a lot about practical exploration of the science curriculum and cross-curricular links which
I will be using in the future. We would love to do it all again.

Comments from other teachers include:

Today was a tremendous success. Everyone enjoyed it immensely. The children’s response
was ‘Epic, epic, epic! The best day ever!’ One little boy who is normally a huge problem
gave me a hug at the end of the day and thanked me for arranging the best day that he had
ever had in school. That means a lot, coming from him. We still have some work to do on
Transgressing the Disciplines Using Science as a Meeting Place: The Science, Art… 163

our poetry and artwork, but hope to have it completed by the end of next week. Our SAW
display should be in place by Friday.

And:
Antibiotics and bacteria may not seem the first choice for a primary science, art and writing
day but the expertise of the SAW project team and their choice of activities made it a day to
remember. The science was presented in an interesting and accessible manner with the task,
extracting DNA from strawberries, being many of the children’s favourite part of the day.
As a teacher, I was impressed with the creativity and quality of the writing and poetry pro-
duced by the children. The art resulted in another favourite part of the day – to quote a pupil
‘I loved making the lethal bacteria mobiles – it was great fun.’ To sum up, in the words of
another pupil ‘The day was epic!’ If you can get a SAW project team into your school, jump
at the opportunity.

Clearly the word ‘epic’ is in vogue amongst the younger generation at present!
The importance of quality, pride and presentation comes over in the teachers’ com-
ments; and perhaps most critically, they notice increased enthusiasm, curiosity and
confidence in the children.

4.2  What the Scientists Say

SAW came into being because of my frustrations about feeling as though, as a sci-
entist, I was losing touch with the outside world. My adventures since my NESTA
fellowship have been very rewarding personally. I have discovered poetry; worked
with other scientists, writers and artists on interdisciplinary SAW projects; and have
spent a lot of time in schools learning from teachers and children alike. We routinely
ask all those involved in SAW projects to fill in feedback forms about their experi-
ences at the end of each SAW project, including the scientists. Below are some
comments from scientists who took part in the antibiotics projects (including stu-
dents, postdoctoral researchers and professors):
I love seeing the boundaries between disciplines dissolve, and have as much fun helping
with and discussing their poetry as I do I teaching them about science.

The children were naturally enthusiastic about science, highly creative and great fun to
work with. If scientists and teachers can foster children’s enthusiasm for science into adult-
hood, the future will be bright.

I went on a SAW trust workshop expecting to tell people about science but came away
amazed by the creative potential of the poets I met. Perhaps if we can mix that creativity
with scientific insights we can achieve amazing new ways to solve problems.

We were impressed with the enthusiasm the students displayed learning about the impor-
tance of why antibiotics are prescribed, the importance of taking your full prescription and
the effect they can have on our overall gut microbiota. Their desire to learn new concepts
of science through experiments, poetry and art filled the day with laughter and fun for all.

Extremely impressed by the ability of children to turn our research into poetry and art.
164 A. Osbourn

A fantastic and engaging way to communicate current research to the next generation.

I love the unexpected questions that children ask – it makes me look at my research from a
very different perspective.

I find these comments heart-warming. The scientists are connected, feel that their
research is important, are fulfilled by their engagement experiences. They enjoy the
stimulation of working with open-minded young people who ask questions, as part
of an interdisciplinary team. There are hints that in some cases they perhaps even
feel as though the door to the creative arts is ajar and beckoning, should they choose
to explore further.

4.3  Science as Inspiration for Experience Writers and Artists

The school projects involved experienced writers and artists working as part of the
SAW teams. These experts were then given the opportunity to respond to the theme
of antibiotics through their own creative explorations. The poetry and artwork from
these adult workshops are included in the SAW antibiotics book, along with narra-
tives that they provided to accompany each piece of work. Some examples are
shown below. These provide a very powerful means of engagement on antibiotic
resistance and bring new dimensions to the multifaceted impacts of SAW.
Process – by Rebecca Thompson
A study of the impact of bacterial elimination and growth after the use of antibiot-
ics, created in fused glass and wood.
Transgressing the Disciplines Using Science as a Meeting Place: The Science, Art… 165

The Greater Good

Every day resistance increases –
old wounds that won’t heal
common infections come back to plague us
indifferent and deadly.

It seems there’s something in us

that’s incurable –
nightly our living rooms flood
with the faces of mothers
begging their terrible questions.

In the lab the leafcutters hoist

the bright green sails
of what might be our future,
streaming their live data 24/7.

They’ve been ceaseless,

tending their nebulae of fungus,
for 50,000,000 years

which is why it always takes him by surprise

each time he goes beyond the observable –.
lifting one clear of the water with his fingertip.
Esther Morgan

‘The poem brought together several different ideas which had struck me dur-
ing the course of the project – the concept of resistance, the importance of
data and numbers in scientific research, and the huge disparities in scale
implicit in the project. I found it very intriguing that the future of human
health, perhaps even our existence, may hinge on something as tiny as the
leafcutter ants helping us to counter the threat from microscopic infection. Set
against these more abstract themes, I kept returning to an image which had
struck me when I was taking a tour of the lab, of one of the research scientists
bothering to rescue an ant which had fallen into the water around its colony.
We often use the metaphor of ants to describe humanity in its teeming masses,
but here was a sudden, vivid reminder of the value of a single life.’

References

Elson, R. (2001). A responsibility to awe. Manchester: Carcanet Press Ltd.

Osbourn, A. (2006). The poetry of science. Nature Reviews. Microbiology, 4, 77–80.
Osbourn, A., Hutchings, M., McClean, T., & Rant, J. (2017). SAW antibiotics: Science from the
Norwich Research Park. Norwich: The SAW Press. ISBN 978-0-9550180-3-9.
To find out more about SAW, please visit the SAW trust website – [Link]
166 A. Osbourn

Links to Scientific Images Illustrating Research on Control of

Infectious Disease at the NRP Image Library

A novel vaccine design strategy: [Link]

aspx?imgid=168
Bacterial biofilm coating: [Link]
DNA gyrase: [Link]
Engineering antibiotics: [Link]
Green vaccine machine: [Link]
All images are freely available for download and reuse with attribution of the source from: http://
[Link]
Transforming MRSA: [Link]
Death’s-head hawkmoth: [Link]
Life in earth: [Link]
Leafcutter ant closeup: [Link]
Leafcutter ant with rose petal: [Link]
aspx?imgid=177
Actinomycetes isolated from leafcutter ants: [Link]
[Link]?imgid=178
Streptomyces coelicolor gusArt: [Link]
aspx?imgid=180
Postgraduate student dedication: [Link]
aspx?imgid=183
Escherichia coli in the human intestine: [Link]
aspx?imgid=192
Analysis of antibiotic production: [Link]
aspx?imgid=199
Streptomyces coelicolor: [Link]
Mass spectrometry on a leafcutter ant: [Link]
aspx?imgid=232
Comparison of biosynthetic gene clusters: [Link]
aspx?imgid=234
Genome of a Streptomyces bacterium: [Link]
aspx?imgid=236
Sequence alignment of bacterial peptides: [Link]
aspx?imgid=237
Microbisporin production: [Link]
Streptomyces cinnamoneus: [Link]
aspx?imgid=72
Streptomyces glaucescens: [Link]
3D leafcutter ant: [Link]
Mycobacterium tuberculosis: [Link]
aspx?imgid=89
Fluorescence microscopy: [Link]
Pseudomonas fluorescens: [Link]
MinION channel: [Link]
SMRT cell technology: [Link]
Virus-like particles produced in plants: [Link]
aspx?imgid=169
Transgressing the Disciplines Using Science as a Meeting Place: The Science, Art… 167

Professor Anne Osbourn  leads a research group at the John

Innes Centre in Norwich, UK, and is also a professor at the
University of East Anglia. Her research focuses on plant natural
products – function, synthesis, mechanisms of metabolic diversi-
fication and metabolic engineering. She is also a poet and has
developed and co-ordinates the Science, Art and Writing (SAW)
Initiative, a cross-curricular science education outreach pro-
gramme ([Link]).
Artistic Ways of Knowing: Thinking Like
an Artist in the STEAM Classroom

Joanne Haroutounian

1  Introduction

The third graders are learning about the water cycle. Colorful posters display the
different stages, from evaporation, transpiration, and condensation to precipitation
and run-off. Tables are strewn with art projects depicting these stages and water-­
filled plastic bags are taped to the window showing signs of evaporation to measure
each day.
Instead of sitting at tables, students begin today’s class lying on the floor with
their eyes closed, listening to Clouds (Nuages) by Debussy. After a reflective pause,
questions arise. Which part of the water cycle does this music describe? How can
we show this through movement? After students gently show the rise of evaporation
to the music, they continue realizing the cycle through interpretive movement to
Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony (Storm) and Smetana’s The Moldau. The lesson
closes as the rapids of the river widen to the ocean, with students swirling around
the room personally expressing the water cycle through interpretive movement
(Haroutounian 2017).
We can imagine what discussions may arise following this science/arts lesson.
How did the music describe a cloud – a storm – a river? How did your movements
change from one stage to the next in describing the water cycle? The students were
actively engaged in the arts in this lesson while reinforcing their understanding of
the water cycle. This STEAM lesson encouraged them to interpret creatively,
through movement, how water evolves from gentle evaporation to exciting precipi-
tation and fluid run-off. And it was fun!
The lesson also encouraged students to “think like artists” by listening with
focused attention to the music (perceptual awareness and discrimination), internal-
izing how they would move (metaperception), and creatively moving to interpret

J. Haroutounian (*)
George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 169

A. J. Stewart et al. (eds.), Converting STEM into STEAM Programs,
Environmental Discourses in Science Education 5,
[Link]
170 J. Haroutounian

what the music expresses (creative interpretation – dynamic of performance). As the

students critique the activity, they realize how the movements they chose mirrored
the concepts they were learning in science.
The educational community is excited about the possibilities that arise when we
integrate the arts with STEM fields to create STEAM (Science, Technology,
Engineering, Arts, Mathematics). The rationale for including the arts rests on the
importance of creative innovation during the problem-solving process within the
STEM fields (Quigley and Herro 2016; Wynn and Harris 2012; Guyotte et al. 2015).
This fresh approach incorporates creative collaboration across disciplines that chal-
lenges students to broaden their perspectives to include somewhat novel answers
arising from working through the arts.
Educators have the opportunity to examine how children learn through this trans-
disciplinary process. Students engrossed in the sciences can learn the value of think-
ing like an artist when working through complex problems. Students in the arts can
realize how their unique way of “knowing” can contribute to scientific results.
What most of us lack in order to be artists is not the inceptive emotion, nor yet merely tech-
nical skill in execution. It is the capacity to work a vague idea and emotion over into terms
of some definite medium. (John Dewey 1934, p. 75)

2  T
 he Arts: An Overview and Rationale for the “A”
in STEAM

The role of the arts in education has always been influenced by political fluctuation
and pragmatic challenges. During the 1980s to 1990s, most schools offered music
and art classes at the elementary level with several classes a week. Secondary school
options included orchestra, band, and chorus performance classes with some dance
and drama options rounding out the arts presence in schools. Nonperformance
options often included humanities classes, which offered an interdisciplinary
approach merging history, culture, and the arts. For people educated in the arts dur-
ing that era, those were decidedly “the good old days.”
We now must face the stark reality of the role that arts education holds in the
twenty-first century, where only 27 states consider the arts as a core academic sub-
ject to even include in the curriculum. Most of these states refer to the arts in general
terms rather than delineating the specific artistic domains of music, visual arts,
dance, and theater. A Snapshot of State Policies for Arts Education (Arts Education
Partnership 2014) notes that most states include policies that relate to arts instruc-
tion: however, these policies vary widely by discipline and grade level, content,
frequency, duration, and qualification for delivery of instruction.
Establishing the voluntary National Standards for Arts Education in 1994 pro-
vided some guidance for arts educators by creating content standards in the four art
domains (music, visual arts, dance, and theater). As the educational climate steered
toward “core standards,” the arts developed the National Core Arts Standards in
Artistic Ways of Knowing: Thinking Like an Artist in the STEAM Classroom 171

2014 (National Coalition for Core Arts Standards 2014). This conceptual frame-
work describes the process of creating, performing/presenting/producing, respond-
ing, and connecting. Figure 1 illustrates the National Core Arts Standards Matrix. It
is significant that the arts chose to organize their standards by process, reflecting the
artistic-creative process that is used in artistic ways of knowing, described later in
this chapter (Haroutounian 2015, 2016, 2017).
Always on the defensive in proving the value of the arts in American education,
multiple studies have linked arts education with achievement in academic areas.
Such studies include traditional arts-specific curriculum, as well as arts integration.
The Arts Education Partnership ([Link] lists 40 studies on their
website linking the arts with academic achievement and thinking skills in various
areas. A sampling of these studies:
• Music students do better in math, with arts-integrated math instruction facilitat-
ing mastery of computation and estimation skills (Courey et  al. 2012; Harris
2007; Kinney and Forsythe 2005; Smithrim and Upitis 2005).
• Arts education develops students’ critical thinking skills – comparing, hypothe-
sizing, critiquing, and exploring alternative viewpoints (Heath et  al. 1998;
Montgomerie and Ferguson 1999).
• Students studying the arts score higher than their peers on tests measuring the
ability to analyze information and solve complex problems (Costa-Giomi 1999;
Korn 2010).
Winner and Hetland’s meta-analysis (2000) showed minimal causal relation-
ships between studying the arts and non-arts cognition. However, they explained
that “we do not justify the presence of mathematics education by whether such

Fig. 1  National Core Arts Standards Matrix. Source: National Coalition for Core Arts Standards,
[Link] Used with permission
172 J. Haroutounian

study leads to stronger skills in English or Latin; nor should we justify the presence
of arts education by whether such study leads to stronger skills in traditional aca-
demic areas” (Winner and Hetland 2000, p. 7). They conclude that there is a glaring
oversight because “there are no studies to document the kinds of thinking that are
developed through study of the arts” (Hetland et al. 2007, p. 4). This oversight may
be addressed as STEAM research develops, recognizing how artistic ways of know-
ing play a part in the creative process for artist/student interdisciplinary
experiences.
Whether work in the arts has consequences that extend to all aspects of the world cannot
now be determined with any degree of confidence. What can be determined with a high
degree of confidence is that work in the arts evokes, refines, and develops thinking in the
arts. We might cautiously reason that meaningful experience in the arts might have some
carryover to domains related to the sensory qualities in which the arts participate. (Elliot
Eisner 2002, p. xii)

Influenced again by political/educational priorities, the era of STEM immedi-

ately impacted the presence of the arts in American schools. With curricular empha-
sis on STEM subjects, arts programs were greatly marginalized. Schools devoted
more time to STEM subjects by decreasing or eliminating the arts (Wynn and Harris
2012). Music and art classes, the mainstay of elementary arts education, met once a
week, if at all. Budgetary limits in low-income schools eased out the arts to include
more STEM for this population of students (Sousa and Pilecki 2013).
Used to ongoing pragmatic challenges from those beyond the arts education
arena, the arts community forged ahead, offering ideas that are the basics of learning
through the arts (“A”) to those working in the academic/sciences of STEM. How
can the arts make a difference in STEM? How can these “opposites” attract to create
a more dynamic education for students? The STEAM literature offers concrete
ideas that make sense when developing a transformative project-based curriculum.
Their rationale emphasizes how innovation and creativity are enhanced by mesh-
ing learning through the arts with the STEM subject areas (Duncan 2010; Saraniero
2016; Tarnoff 2011). Rather than being total opposites, scientific and artistic pro-
cesses actually complement each other. Both explore ideas and possibilities and
both seek a culminating product/performance.
Innovation happens when convergent thinkers, those who march straight ahead toward
their goal, combine forces with divergent thinkers – those who professionally wander, who
are comfortable being uncomfortable and who look for what is real. (John Maeda 2012,
p. 1)

The arts offer a way to reach outside the box with novel solutions and intrigu-
ing new ways of thinking. Imagine the possibilities when divergent thinkers work
closely with convergent thinkers, learning from one another. The list below offers
comparative descriptors gleaned from the arts and STEM literature that can open
up a discussion about the rationale for including the “A” in STEAM (Maeda 2012;
Sousa and Pilecki 2013; Thurley 2016; Haroutounian 2015, 2016):
Artistic Ways of Knowing: Thinking Like an Artist in the STEAM Classroom 173

STEAM – opposites attract

Arts STEM
Subjective, intuitive, perceptive, novel Objective, logical, analytical, useful
Divergent thinking Convergent thinking
Creative interpretation and collaboration Scientific process and research
Problem-finding, critical thinking/ Problem-solving, critical thinking
making

Reviewing the vocabulary of thinking skills and processes on the list above, I see
a challenge in future discussions that would be exciting for students who wander,
enjoy being uncomfortable, and invigorated by the creative process. It’s time to hold
hands with your science colleague and search together for what is real – shall we
dance?

3  STEAM Is Rising

3.1  Early Childhood: A Natural!

What better way to present the idea of STEAM education than with Elmo the
Musical, appearing in 11-min episodic segments throughout the 43rd season of
Sesame Street! Elmo sings and dances while using his imagination to explain math
skills such as enumeration, relational concepts, addition/subtraction, and geometric
shapes to solve problems. Sesame Street reinforces at-home activities through
STEAM-based games and learning tools offered through their website. Rosemarie
Truglio, Senior Vice President of Education and Research at Sesame Workshop,
explains that “incorporating the arts into our STEM curriculum was an exciting and
natural addition, as Sesame Street has always used music, visual and performing
arts as tools to education and entertain children” ([Link]).
Hedda Sharapan worked with Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood for
decades and explains that many early childhood educators feel uncomfortable work-
ing with science-related topics. However, the arts are naturally part of early child-
hood education. “This new term, STEAM, can help early childhood educators to
build the foundation of science-related knowledge, using the arts to encourage chil-
dren to express their ideas in a wide variety of creative ways” (Sharapan 2012,
p. 36).
Sharapan shared a STEAM everyday experience between an early childhood
teacher and her class of 3-year-olds. The class came into the school after an excep-
tionally hot playtime outside. She lined them up in the hallway and asked if they felt
a difference between the air outside and the air inside. It was a simple question that
required a hesitant pause and the answer “It’s colder.” The everyday experience les-
174 J. Haroutounian

son followed with a discussion of air conditioning, what makes things hot, cold, and
how engineers devised a way to create air conditioning. Students created other ways
to stay cool making their own fans, feeling the air created through their own “engi-
neering and art.” These youngsters experienced authentic learning by paying atten-
tion to detail in the world around them.

3.2  K-12 Schools and Programs

The Rhode Island School of Design championed the STEAM movement early on,
aligning it with their interest in furthering art and design as an element merged with
STEM. Their objectives were to transform research policy to place art and design at
the center of STEM, to encourage integration of art and design in K-20 education,
and to influence employers to hire artists and designers to drive innovation. The
school has connections with many STEAM projects and hosts STEAM conferences
to help train teachers. Their website includes a number of case studies of STEAM
school programs worth investigating ([Link]).
Not surprisingly, fresh new STEAM program initiatives in schools are beginning
to grow nationwide, sponsored by national and local funding. Here is a sampling of
projects emerging in different parts of the country:
Fort Garrison Elementary School (MD)  is enjoying a dance-integrated program
called “Teaching Science with Dance in Mind” with a goal to show how “dynami-
cally dance can bring deep and complex learning to children” (Robelen 2010, p. 1).
The program is sponsored by the nonprofit organization, Hands on Science Outreach.
Program Director Rima Faber explains, “The more we teach through dance integra-
tion, the more we realize how dynamically it brings deep and complex learning to
children” (Robelen 2010, p. 14).

Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership  is working with city schools to help

elementary students better understand abstract concepts in science and mathematics
(fractions, geometric shapes) through art-making projects, including a “fraction
mural” displayed at one school. Education Director Raye Cohen notes that “visual
arts just seems to be able to hone in on the concept, taking it from the abstract to the
concrete so students are really able to understand it” (Robelen 2010, p. 8). The proj-
ect has an intensive research component whose findings will be welcome in this new
STEAM field.

The Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts,  based in Vienna, VA, has
developed early childhood initiatives that blend STEM with the arts. Funded by a
2010 federal Education Department grant and Northrop Grumman, it includes
­performing artists in theater, music, dance, and puppetry working alongside kinder-
Artistic Ways of Knowing: Thinking Like an Artist in the STEAM Classroom 175

garten and preschool teachers. Findings from the American Institute for Research
study show that arts-integrated methods in early childhood education can increase
students’ math achievement by providing the equivalent of more than a month of
additional learning. Wolf Trap participants outperformed their peers in the Early
Math Diagnostic Assessment (EDMA) in 2 consecutive years (American Institute
for Research, [Link], February 16, 2016).

The ArtScience Prize  is built around the ideas of Harvard University Professor
David Edwards, and the competition has expanded to Boston, Minneapolis, and
Oklahoma City as well as international locations. The contest merges abstract con-
cepts in the arts, design, and the sciences. Students work with abstract real-world
concepts such as The Future of Water or Virtual Worlds bringing in the field of
synthetic biology (Robelen 2011). Carrie Fitzsimmons, Executive Director of the
ArtScience Labs in Cambridge, MA, states that “we are empowering young people
to come up with their own ideas while exploring and playing in the arts and sci-
ences. It’s all fun, experiential learning, but we’re teaching them to be critical think-
ers and problem-solvers” (Robelen 2010, p. 8).

Hampton University Museum and School of Science, Engineering and

Technology (VA)  initiated “Jam Session: Jazz and Visual Art in Engineering” in
2010. The project applies jazz jams and improvisation principles to engineering
students’ design processes. Participants enjoyed John Sims’ exhibit “Rhythm of
Structure: Mathematics, Art and Poetic Reflections” (Wynn and Harris 2012).

Robious Middle School (VA)  included “Keep Our Watershed Together…Be a Part
of the Whole” project during the 2011–2012 school year which involved creating a
mosaic depicting the natural processes within the ecosystem, the James River, and
the food web. 380 sixth graders developed project sketchbooks creatively explain-
ing what they learned from fieldwork at the river. Students sat with their sketch-
books on the riverbank painting botanicals with watercolors, using water from the
river (Wynn and Harris 2012).

3.3  STEAM University Research

Texas A&M STEAM Camp  The study focused on student perception about using
creativity in STEM projects during a 2-week STEAM camp experience for 104
students from seventh to twelfth grades. The camp used problem-based learning
activities that built bridges with popsicle sticks, made lip gloss from organic materi-
als, prepared a video to explain created products, created an app for a cell phone,
built robots with Legos, and designed an object with 3D modeling software. Student
176 J. Haroutounian

surveys indicated students believed that problem-solving requires artistic

solutions.
Three implications for education emerged from this study:
• The arts should preserve or regain their prominence in the educational system.
• Opportunities should be provided in formal school settings for students to use
both creativity and logical thought processes in solving problems.
• Engagement in the arts has benefits emotionally, giving the arts an importance on
their own, outside of STEM (Oner et al. 2016).
Transdisciplinary Design Studio  This college course incorporated collaborative
creativity using a visual-verbal methodological approach. It included 11 undergrad-
uate and graduate students from disciplines of environmental and civil engineering,
landscape architecture, and art education. Design challenges included exploring
waste reduction and a water ethic, with local and global implications. Students cre-
ated sculptures while working together to develop individual visual-verbal
narratives.
STEAM approaches engage students in interdisciplinary explorations of com-
plex social issues and offer collaborative engagements through the arts that nurture
holistic, authentic, and dialogic perspectives. A transdisciplinary STEAM curricu-
lum fosters reflection of and understanding of an individual’s creative process.
“While many focus on what the arts bring to the STEM conversation, we are also
interested in what STEM might bring to the arts.” (Guyotte et al. 2015, p. 31).

4  Artistic Ways of Knowing and STEAM

Artistic Ways of Knowing describes the way students who are fully engaged in the
arts perceive and create through these experiences. They describe the perceptual/
cognitive processes inherent while learning and working through the arts
(Haroutounian 1995, 2002, 2014, 2015, 2016). This artistic process includes per-
ceptual awareness and discrimination, metaperception, creative interpretation, the
dynamic of performance/product, and critiquing (summarized in Fig. 2).
There is a broad consensus that the arts are important to include in STEM because
they bring creativity to the problem-solving process. However, creativity is a very
generalized term, so we lose sight of exactly how students think as they create. If we
examine each step of this creative-artistic process, we more fully understand how
students “think as artists.” Teachers and researchers can document and study what
they witness in STEAM classes for future research of artistic thinking (Hetland
et al. 2007).
The explanation of each element in the artistic process will include brief descrip-
tions of how one can observe this element of artistic knowing in a STEAM class-
room. Enjoy realizing these activities vicariously, and imagine how students can
expand conceptual understanding as they work together to solve problems.
Artistic Ways of Knowing: Thinking Like an Artist in the STEAM Classroom 177

Fig. 2  Artistic Ways of Knowing. (Haroutounian 2015, p. xi)

4.1  Perceptual Awareness and Discrimination

Artistic knowing begins with fine-tuned sensory awareness and discrimination.

Eisner (1986, p. 8) describes qualitative awareness as “critical abilities to differenti-
ate, distinguish, to recognize and to make distinctions between many qualities that
constitute our world.”
178 J. Haroutounian

Across each art domain, students are drawn to details through careful listening,
moving, seeing, and connecting with others emotionally. Visual artists perceive the
world with acuity, awareness of dimensions of space, color, and textures that go
unnoticed by those who simply look (Clark and Zimmerman 1984; Hurwitz and
Day 2007). Musicians can discriminate rhythm patterns, melodic shapes, and tonal
colors that will translate into interpretive performance as the process continues
(Gordon 1987; Sloboda 1985, 2005).
Perceptual Awareness and Discrimination and STEAM  The 3-year-olds described
earlier were drawn to the concept of temperature and discrimination of cold and hot
and how this can be controlled. They had to truly focus their attention to “feel” these
differences at the initial stages of this STEAM experience. This lesson not only
included science, engineering, and art but allowed them to qualitatively connect to
their environment.

4.2  Metaperception

Perceptual discrimination is the entry point of artistic awareness, but artistic know-
ing emanates from the molding of senses and emotions through a unique perceptual/
cognitive process. This process is described differently dependent on perspectives.
Aesthetic education describes it as aesthetic knowing (Goodlad 1992) or think-
ing with an aesthetic sense (Costa 1991) or thinking within (Reimer and Smith
1992). The visual arts describe it as qualitative intelligence (Eisner 1972), visual
thinking, or visualization (Arnheim 1969). In drama, it is called virtualization
(Courtney 1990), and in dance this internal performance aesthetic is called body-
thinking (McCutchen 2006). In music, Sloboda (1985) calls it thought representa-
tion of music, and Seashore (1938), the pioneer of music aptitude, describes it as the
mind’s ear.
The term, metaperception, can be used to describe this inner manipulation and
monitoring of senses and emotion that occurs through the artistic interpretive pro-
cess (Haroutounian 1995, 2002, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017). Metaperception is the
artistic parallel to metacognition, a term used to describe mental monitoring in cog-
nitive thinking and problem-solving. Metacognition describes the process of “think-
ing about thinking” while metaperception describes the process of “perceiving/
thinking about artistic intent.” Artists filter and manipulate sensory perceptions
combined with cognitive and expressive decision-making in order to create artistic
solutions (Haroutounian 2002, p. xvi). The term is useful because it is understand-
able to both the artist and the scientist.
Metaperception and STEAM  The students engaged in the Philadelphia Arts in
Education group developed a Fraction Mural that was displayed at the school. The
process began with students individually manipulating abstract concepts underlying
Artistic Ways of Knowing: Thinking Like an Artist in the STEAM Classroom 179

fractions internally through metaperception. They shared their ideas collaboratively

to transform these abstract concepts into a concrete artistic interpretation as a mural.

4.3  Creative Interpretation

As students work metaperceptively through an arts medium, the expressive rework-

ing of ideas becomes an artistic-interpretive process that results in a creative inter-
pretation. This interpretation grows through experimenting and adjusting ideas that
will eventually become a performance, a product, or a critique. The arts are a perfect
way to blend the invention of thought with perceptive/expression manipulation of
ideas. Here is where the arts working with STEM content can produce products that
uniquely extend outside the box.
Creative Interpretation and STEAM  The Hampton University Museum and
School of Science, Engineering and Technology merged the engineering design
process with improvisation principles in jazz. Hearing jazz improvisation with all of
its creative combinations working together can ignite ideas in engineering design
through experimenting with ideas across both disciplines. Viewing John Sims’ art
exhibit adds visual inspiration to the mix. The collaborative result of all this creative
interpretation can be innovative.

4.4  Dynamic of Behavior and Performance/Product

The musician, dancer, or actor communicates an interpretation to an audience

through a performance. The audience experiences the performance sharing in the
interpretive process. This mutual aesthetic experience of audience and performer
creates the dynamic of performance. When experiencing an artwork, we find details
that personally draw us to the work, creating this same dynamic between the art-
work and viewer. The more aware the perception by the audience/viewer, the more
dynamic the aesthetic connection.
Dynamic of Behavior and Performance/Product and STEAM  The
Transdisciplinary Design Studio went through the artistic-creative process using
visual-verbal narratives to create interpretive ideas as they collaborated to design
sculptures related to exploring waste and water real-world problems. One group
placed empty water jugs on the campus lawn to represent the amount of water used
in a normal 10-min shower, and fewer jugs demonstrating water used in an energy-­
efficient showerhead. This design challenge involved creating a visual artwork that
engaged the community and established social significance in the dynamic between
the artwork and the viewer.
180 J. Haroutounian

4.5  Critiquing

The cyclical artistic process requires self-assessment of one’s developing work in an

arts medium as well as the astute critique of the artwork of others. This critique
involves examination beyond performance through perception and reflection to add
depth to the artistic process. Affording opportunities for students to reflect and cri-
tique their own work fosters artistic reasoning (Haroutounian 1995, 2002, 2013;
Winner et al. 1992).
Critiquing and STEAM  In the Robious Middle School watershed project, students
prepared ongoing self-assessment of their individual project sketchbooks, as well as
comments and ideas for fellow student sketchbooks. These sketchbook/journals
functioned as works-in-progress and reference books. During their expedition to the
river, and while testing the river water, the students used its water as a medium for
watercolor interpretive drawings, thus expanding on this reflective self-assessment.
This STEAM experience provided ongoing critique opportunities reflecting artistic
critique methods.
Incorporating artistic ways of knowing in STEAM classrooms will ensure that
arts experiences are adding depth and breadth to the STEM curriculum while devel-
oping the specific thinking skills that define the artistic process. STEM educators
will observe artists at work in their classrooms and arts educators will realize the
opportunities afforded to their students through creative collaboration with the math
and sciences.
STEAM – What are we learning? Even though concepts for broadening STEM to
STEAM are still emerging, we can already see the impact of bringing the arts into
STEM classrooms.
• When the arts are integrated with STEM concepts, creative collaboration between
different ways of thinking works positively in solving problems (Sousa and
Pilecki 2013).
• The arts draw attention to the idea of broadening approaches to learning and
seeking novel solutions that provide room for students to explore and question as
well as solve problems (Robelen 2011).
• Students are engaged in solving real-world problems, realizing how the arts play
a role in effectively communicating their ideas, utilizing an appropriate arts field
that works for that project (Piro 2010).
• When the arts are added to STEM disciplines, students are less intimidated and
become more engaged in learning. STEAM classes are stimulating and inspiring,
with creativity allowing students to express themselves as they solve complex
problems (Wynn and Harris 2012).
• The STEAM approach to education should not be the only arts experience avail-
able to students. Each domain of the arts – music, visual arts, theater, dance –
must be recognized as an essential component of the basic curriculum (Oner
et al. 2016).
Artistic Ways of Knowing: Thinking Like an Artist in the STEAM Classroom 181

It is exciting to see how quickly the concept of STEAM has taken hold across the
country – basically starting less than 5 years ago, it is already accepted as a valuable
transdisciplinary approach to education. As someone dedicated to the arts in educa-
tion, I was initially hesitant to embrace STEAM, worried about the possibility of
lessons that may use the arts peripherally rather than as an integral part of the col-
laborative learning process. The examination of a handful of STEAM projects
showed exciting possibilities of student exploration across disciplines that can also
provide opportunities for teachers to see artistic ways of knowing in action in their
classrooms.

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Joanne Haroutounian serves on the music faculty of George

 

Mason University and is active internationally as a consultant in

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Putting the STEAM in the River: Potential
Transformative Roles of Science,
Technology, Engineering, Arts,
and Mathematics in School District
Culture, Organization, Systems,
and Learning Environments

John Puglisi and Beth V. Yeager

1  Introduction

The Rio School District’s STEM-to-STEAM story was an effort to change a vision
of learning and teaching. In 2012, Rio began building a culture of inquiry among
key stakeholders, including teachers and students, to transform the District-wide
vision, and teaching and learning, toward a twenty-first-century inquiry model.
These efforts inevitably came to include the movement, in 2013, from STEM to
STEAM (and beyond-STEAM) as an integral part of that model.
We present a case study, based on research from an ethnographic perspective
(e.g., Castanheira et al. 2001), of a 5-year journey within Rio School District. In
presenting this study, we make visible the importance of a leader with a clear vision
and an investment in a distributed leadership model. The District’s new vision
included twenty-first-century practices and inquiry at its core and led to early deci-
sions to focus on STEAM and other integrated disciplines, using a transdisciplinary
approach rather than the more commonly used STEM approach.
Rio School District is a small- to mid-size public-school district on the West
Coast of California. The District borders the state’s Santa Clara River. Its population
includes 90% Latinx students and 80% low-income students. Many of the District’s
students are English Language Learners. Rio (which means river in Spanish) cur-
rently has eight schools (six K-5 schools, two middle schools, and one K-8 Dual
Immersion Academy). A new K-8 STEAM Academy will be the ninth school.
Dr. John Puglisi, one of the authors of this chapter, became the superintendent of
Rio District beginning with the 2012–2013 school year. In the following excerpt

J. Puglisi (*) · B. V. Yeager

Rio School District, Oxnard, CA, USA
e-mail: jpuglisi@[Link]; byeager@[Link]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 185

A. J. Stewart et al. (eds.), Converting STEM into STEAM Programs,
Environmental Discourses in Science Education 5,
[Link]
186 J. Puglisi and B. V. Yeager

from an interview with him, he provides an overview, context, and rationale for the
journey we present, which began as he began his tenure as superintendent:
Some five years ago… I took an initial assessment of the existing learning environments,
teaching and learning practices, infrastructure and other aspects of the school district as part
of my leadership plan. What I saw was not uncommon in many districts I had worked in or
observed over the last thirty plus years. In fact, it was not unlike many school districts
across America and especially in California. The Rio School District’s vision of teaching
and learning in 2012 was an amalgamation of a variety of pedagogical approaches. This
amalgamation was loosely tied to a theory of standardization aimed at increasing the num-
ber of students achieving basic academic skills as they related to the California standards
and as measured by the California Standards Tests (CSTs) which were multiple-choice
assessments. There were many practices and activities that were attempting standardized
and rote learning schemes and few opportunities for students to talk, make, create, and
deeply think and problem solve. For this reason, I engaged staff and community in explor-
ing new paradigms, practices, and mindsets. Many of these were well communicated and
contextualized by the EdLeader21 network of Districts and schools ([Link]
com) and its focus on 21st Century learning practices, dubbed the ‘4 C’s’ (Collaboration,
Communication, Creativity, Critical thinking). Along with participation in EdLeader21, we
began to give permission for and encouragement of many learning activities that were less
prevalent or non-existent in Rio’s recent past. Since then, we have been evolving and clari-
fying a vision of learning and teaching that aims at developing 21st century practices
through inquiry based learning activities that are more student driven and call upon stu-
dents’ abilities to think, create, and express their understandings by solving problems.
Together with a broader set of organizational change processes, these catalytic endeavors
helped forge a move towards a vision of inquiry-based 21st century learning environments
and activities that naturally began to envelope the movement from STEM to STEAM. All
of these efforts were aiming to transform learning environments such that children of all
ages would be more engaged, more motivated, more included, and have more opportunities
to collaborate, communicate in diverse ways, think critically about challenging academic
work, be creative, and generally care for themselves, each other, their community and their
learning and schooling. (September 2017)

In the following sections, we describe how this view unfolded. We share the
framework that has guided our district’s inquiry efforts. We also address some of the
common constructs we have taken up as part of our approach to transforming teach-
ing and learning by placing inquiry and the “5 C’s” (the 5th C, “Caring,” added by
Rio in 2015) at the center. We do this to better explain what the 5-year inquiry
efforts “looked and sounded like” and how these efforts informed the District’s
approach to “STEAM” rather than “STEM.”

2  U
 sing an Ethnographic Perspective in Order to Take
an Inquiry Stance

We use Interactional Ethnography (IE) (Green et al. 2003), as a logic of inquiry,

providing an orienting theoretical/methodological framework for our research and
for our overarching inquiry as a District. In taking up this perspective (Green and
Bloome 1997), we draw on Anderson-Levitt’s (2006) argument to view ­ethnography
Putting the STEAM in the River: Potential Transformative Roles of Science… 187

as epistemology, a way of knowing, and therefore, as a logic-in-use rather than as

simply a set of non-theoretically-based tools. From this perspective, we view class-
rooms and other educational settings, such as a school or a school district, as cul-
tures-in-the-making, in which members co-construct patterned ways of being,
knowing, and doing through their actions and interactions (e.g., Santa Barbara
Classroom Discourse Group 1992).
By drawing on an IE perspective, complemented by microethnography (Bloome
et al. 2005), we were able to conduct contrastive analyses both within and across
time and events, including moment to moment interactions as reflected in oral and
written discourse. This complementary approach further enabled us to examine, at
multiple levels, the ways in which particular visions and perspectives, goals, pro-
cesses and practices were initiated and (re)formulated over time. We identify,
through analyses presented in our case study, processes and practices that were
especially relevant at the district level over time.

3  A 5-Year Inquiry Process: A Case Study

In this case study, we describe how particular changes occurred over time, including
changes in public discourse. We also address three factors that supported particular
kinds of change – including the decision to incorporate STEAM as a central piece
of the District’s transformative efforts. The three factors are: (1) the role of particu-
lar kinds of leadership, (2) the importance of an inquiry stance (cf., Cochran-Smith
and Lytle 2009), and (3) the importance of catalytic overlapping initiatives, which
became patterns of practice/processes across time (e.g., Green et al. 2003).
Our consideration of leadership includes discussion of a leader who may also
serve as an ideas/vision catalyst (sensu Brafman and Beckstrom 2008). We also
consider the importance of a shared-expertise approach to distributed leadership
(e.g., Gronn 2010). We found all of these factors were essential while building a
culture centering on inquiry.

3.1  Key Leader as Catalyst

The “story” begins in 2012, when Dr. Puglisi entered as superintendent. He brought
a clear personal and professional vision that, while continually evolving, was
grounded in his 30 years as a teacher and administrator, including several years as
superintendent of two smaller districts. He also brought a perspective on inquiring,
an openness to observing and asking questions, on thinking in an integrated way
about disciplines, and on thinking out of the box. These perspectives were grounded
in both his professional and personal experience as an artist and musician, with
interests in mathematics, science, and multiple other disciplines. His work as a
188 J. Puglisi and B. V. Yeager

graduate student in ethnography and technology also contributed to his personal and
professional vision. This vision and experience would affect Rio’s own vision and
actions as a District.
From an ethnographic perspective, entering an existing community/culture
required a period of stepping outside of his own experience in order to study that
community. It required time to transition. The District’s goals, adopted for 2012–2013,
reflect that transition period, as well as what the superintendent was learning about
the Rio school system’s “vision of teaching and learning.” The following excerpts
from Rio’s goals that year under the heading of “Student Achievement” serve as an
example of what Dr. Puglisi was learning about the District in this area:
(a) Improve % of students scoring proficient or advanced on CSTs…(CA State
Standards, California Standardized Tests)
(b) Improve % of students with a positive level of changes on CSTs….
(c) Improve all API scores… (CA Dept of Education Academic Performance Index,
still in use in 2012–2013).
Clearly, Rio’s orientation to teaching and learning at that time was tied strongly
to student achievement, as measured on standardized, multiple-choice tests.
However, the superintendent started inserting his vision, placing ideas into public
space early in the academic year, via the superintendent’s blog on the Rio website.
In the following blog entry (Table 1), the language of “world-class learning” appears
in the Rio District public discourse for the first time. Through this written discourse,

Table 1  Dr. John Puglisi blog entry – world-class learning – 12/4/12

World-class (wûrldkls)
adj.
1. Ranking among the foremost in the world; of an international standard of excellence; of the
highest order: a world-class figure skater.
What does it mean to be a world-class learning organization?
Students have access to world-class educational opportunities and achieve world-class results?
Employees have access to world-class educational opportunities and achieve world-class
results?
Partners have access to world-class educational opportunities and achieve world-class results?
The organization itself achieves world class results in its own learning processes?
The organization incorporates and develops integrating the best classical educational elements
with the most modern and innovative twenty-first century tools and contexts.
It emphasizes access.
It emphasizes equity.
It emphasizes innovation and creativity.
It emphasizes excellence and striving.
It emphasizes critical thinking and collaboration.
[Link]
Putting the STEAM in the River: Potential Transformative Roles of Science… 189

the superintendent proposed a potential change in Rio’s vision and in its perception
of itself as a District (i.e., how Rio might position itself in others’ eyes).
An analysis of the discourse in the blog text makes visible the potential work
being accomplished here. The superintendent shared, first, a dictionary definition of
“world-class,” rather than offering his own personal definition. He proposed this
definition at the outset, inviting his readers (staff, families, the public beyond the
District) to begin thinking about an educational organization within this context.
The notion of “ranking among the foremost in the world” was new to the discourse
by and about the Rio School District at this time. Rather than simply telling his
readers, or positioning himself as the expert on world-class, he instead posed ques-
tions and invited readers to think about what these terms meant. Finally, he placed
language into the public space that later, in various forms, became part of the District
common language: examples included “21st century tools and contexts,” “innova-
tion and creativity,” and “critical thinking and collaboration.”
Fichtner (blog entry, retrieved 10/11/17) describes certain key leaders as cata-
lysts when discussing Brafman and Beckstrom’s (2008) review on theories of lead-
erless organizations. She describes catalysts as “visionaries that develop amazing
ideas. But instead of holding onto those ideas for themselves, they share their ideas
with others. And they inspire others to take action on them. And then, the Catalyst
steps out of the way and lets the community carry the idea to incredible results.” We
don’t suggest that Rio District is without leaders or a key leader. Rather, we contend
that Dr. Puglisi was a visionary catalyst, in the context of a form of distributed lead-
ership (Gronn 2010). In this particular distributed leadership arena, ideas are pro-
posed and taken up, or not, by various stakeholders. We also suggest that the
superintendent uses a particular approach to leadership, distributing it both verti-
cally and horizontally. This leadership style focuses on notions of shared expertise,
which is a critical factor in supporting change efforts in the area of STEAM. In other
words, Dr. Puglisi has described, and our ethnographic evidence supports, that, as
the number of participating stakeholders and their contributions grows, the collec-
tive result becomes increasingly co-constructed, rather than the product of one indi-
vidual. Illustrative of this argument are the practices Dr. Puglisi identified in a
presentation he gave at a STEAM Consortium in Northern California in 2015. These
practices (Table 2) embody support for teachers in moving toward “do[ing] STEAM
learning”:

Table 2 Superintendent Setting goals/vision

practices: ‘‘STEAM
Giving permission
learning – do it!’’
Providing resources
Supporting professionals developing
Networking and partnerships with
the broader community
190 J. Puglisi and B. V. Yeager

3.2  Vision, Mission, and Goals Statements

The symbiotic process between superintendent vision/ideas and stakeholder ideas

developed and became evident through adjustments in the publicly adopted District
vision and mission statements and the Rio District goals. We offer evidence of such
changes in vision and mission statements (Table  3). Information in Table  3, and
information offered later in a discussion of Goals, establishes context for the subse-
quent discussion of corresponding changes in practice.
Although changes occurred in vision and mission statements between 2013–2014
and 2015–2018 (Table  3), references to empowering students were retained as a
central aspect both times. The focus on empowering students appeared later in dis-
cussions of the work of Inquiry-Based Instructional Designers (IBID), a teacher-­
driven inquiry group. Empowering students also became a goal for the new STEAM
Academy, emphasizing student-driven learning and student-driven/teacher facili-
tated investigations.
The focus on student-driven learning is even more explicit in Rio District’s
revised mission statement for 2015–2018. In addition, twenty-first-century “curric-
ulum and tools” as well as the “5 C’s,” discussed below, are now central to what the
District wants students to be “self-driven” to do. This change in mission statements,
adopted by the Rio Governing Board, makes visible the efforts to coalesce and
codify the transformative efforts summarized below.

Table 3  Rio vision and mission statements

2013–2014 2015–present
Vision statement Vision statement
The Rio School District seeks to reflect a world and The Rio School District and
nation where society understands and values the community empower students to
interdependency∗ between nation, state, community, achieve their full potential in our
family, the democratic process, and the role of public community, our American democracy
schools in educating for the future. Within this vision, and our diverse and changing world.
students are at the center of our commitment to
stimulate empowerment and achieve the greatest
possible potential as part of living in a diverse and
changing world.
Mission statement Mission statement
The Rio School District nurtures the increasingly The Rio School District and
challenging learning and development of children community nurture learners to be
from our pre-school through 8th grade utilizing the kind self-driven to fully engage with the
of curriculum and programs that can serve as a hub for twenty-first century curriculum and
community development as a whole. tools aimed to develop the 5C
practices: Communication,
Collaboration, Critical Thinking,
Creativity, and Caring.
∗Bolded words, inserted in originals by Rio District, represent intent to place emphasis
Putting the STEAM in the River: Potential Transformative Roles of Science… 191

Examining District goal statements at three different points (2012–2013,

2013–2014, and 2015–2018) renders changes resulting from transformative efforts
that occurred within the District even more explicit (Table 4).
For example, STEAM was first included in the District’s goals in 2013–2014.
This inclusion codified efforts to strengthen STEAM approaches through a Rio-led
county network. STEAM Colloquiums were started, too (discussed below). In
2015–2018, Rio District adopted a goal to become “a 5C Focused, Digital Learning,
S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) commu-
nity hub.”

Table 4  District goals across the 5-year case study period

2012–1013 (adopted
1/16/13) ∗ 2013–2014 2015–present
1. Student Achievement Create a love for learning, engage in Develop proficient and
creativity, and value the process of engaged readers, writers,
inquiry and investigation. and mathematicians.
 (a) Improve % of Provide world class learning Improve the rate of English
students scoring opportunities for our entire language development for
proficient or advanced educational community. all learners.
on CSTs District wide,
at each school, and at
each grade level
 (b) Improve % of Achieve and document achievement Develop teacher capacity as
students with positive results based upon world class reading instructors and
level changes on CSTs learning. facilitators of the 5 Cs:
District wide, at each Communication,
school, and at each Collaboration, Critical
grade level Thinking, Creativity, and
Caring.
 (c) Improve API scores Be a role model for twenty-first Develop the District as a 5C
District wide, and at century education in California and Focused, Digital Learning,
each school, for all nationally, focusing on the 4 C’s: S.T.E.A.M. (Science,
Communication, Critical Thinking,
students, and for all sub Technology, Engineering,
groups of students Collaboration, and Creativity. Arts, and Mathematics)
2. Student Health & Develop our STEAM Education community hub.
Well-being Center in Ventura County linked to
broader efforts across the country.
3. District Fiscal Ensure the Financial Stability of the
Well-being Rio School District.
4. Dist/Schools short & Develop and implement the Master
long-term planning Plan for facilities growth and
5. Dist/Schools/Community maintenance.
Climate
6. Tech Integration/
Innovation
7. Facilities Development
& Maintenance
8. Partnerships
∗2012–2013 had eight major goal areas and multiple sub-goals. Only sub-goals for Student
Achievement, with its focus on students, are used here for the contrastive analysis
192 J. Puglisi and B. V. Yeager

3.3  Catalytic Patterns of Practice/Processes

Changes in vision, mission, and goal statements reflect the evolution of the District
and its efforts toward building a STEAM-embedded culture of inquiry. We present
a time-map of identified, interrelated major events for the Rio District, including
those already discussed, to show what we refer to as transformative change efforts
(Table 5).
Table 5 shows the flow of activities in the District, within and across years. It is
also possible to see not only shifts in what has occurred in the District, but also the
kinds of events or initiatives that appear to (re)occur across years, associated with
those changes.
In 2012, Rio District was one of only a few, if not the only, districts in the
Edleader21 PLC serving predominantly students of color and/or low-income or
state-defined “low-performing” students, many of them second language learners.
Still, Rio’s vision of becoming an organization for “world-class learning” and of
engaging in twenty-first-century learning was in synchrony with the vision of
EdLeader21. Shortly, thereafter, “4 C’s” (Collaboration, Communication, Creativity,
and Critical Thinking) became part of the common language. Later, the team incor-
porated the 4 C’s into the public language and actions of the District, and, as shown
in Table 5, a fifth C, “Caring,” was added in 2015. The 5 C’s, in documents, in lan-
guage and in classroom practice, are combined with, and as important as, the CA
State Standards (e.g., Common Core and NGSS) in Rio District (see Table 3). We
have identified and highlighted several additional catalytic processes/tracks in
Table 5. The relationships among these processes are exemplified by EdLeader21,
the 5 C’s, and the evolving development of inquiry and inquiry design as central
cores for teaching and learning. For example, we see inquiry as integral to the 5 C’s.
Inquiry practices such as asking questions, observing, making an argument, and
collaborating with others, and processes such as innovating, and imagining, all flow
through the actions of collaborating, thinking critically, communicating, being cre-
ative, and caring (empathy). As a result, a focus on inquiry has been compatible
with the efforts to implement the 5 C’s, and the 5 C’s are catalysts for movements in
multiple directions.
Central to our STEAM effort has been the growth of a teacher-driven inquiry
group, IBID (Inquiry-Based Instructional Designers). IBID is a grassroots inquiry
group, evidence of the shared expertise approach to leadership. IBID began with
seven teachers (representing five grade levels) and two facilitators. The facilitators
were part of the superintendent’s efforts to secure resources to support teachers in
implementing an inquiry stance for teaching and learning. The efforts of IBID are
deeply grounded in looking at their own practice, developing capacity to design
inquiry-based instruction, guiding students in empowering themselves to drive their
own inquiries/learning, and actively integrating disciplines using a practice-based
approach. Table 6 contains an excerpt from a written reflection on IBID by a partici-
Table 5  Timeline of selected key activities driving the Rio district’s inquiry process toward transformative teaching and learning and selected key patterns of
practice/tracks
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6
2012–2013 2013–2014 2014–2015 2015–2016 2016–2017 Fall, 2017 (Present)
New Super. starts Super. active member EdLeader21 teams EdLeader21 Team EDLeader21 continues EdLeader21 continues
1st Super. “World Class of EdLeader21 (4 C’s) begin meeting meetings ongoing
Learning” statement ‘Caring’ added – 5
C’s
Transitional goals New goals adopted, New goals, vision,
adopted include “inquiry & mission adopted for
investigation” 2015–2018
IBID (Inquiry-­Based IBID Summer Institute IBID Inquiry group IBID Summer IBID Inquiry Group & Summer IBID Inquiry Grp
Designers) formed & academic year academic year Institute & Inquiry Institute (new members) – Year continues Year 6
from Summer PD meetings Year 2 meetings & Summer group meetings. Year 5
Institute – Year 1 Institute Year 3 4 (membership
grows)
VCSTEAM’N VC STEAM’N STEAM Colloquiums #4 & 5
initiated - #s 1&2 Colloquium #3
Summer Science Summer Science Summer Science Summer Science Academy – Plans for Summer
Academy – Year 1 Academy – Year 2 Academy – Year 3 Year 4 Science Academy – Year
5
Facilities Master Plan STEAM School STEAM school Recruitment for STEAM STEAM Academy
adopted (incl Science Bond passage stakeholder design faculty & hiring official groundbreaking
Academy, STEAM continues ceremony
Putting the STEAM in the River: Potential Transformative Roles of Science…

School) Stakeholder design Orientation & first Summer STEAM faculty testing
for STEAM school Institute for STEAM Academy & trying out – ongoing
begins faculty (Curriculum & curriculum & instruction
instruction design begins) development
(continued)
193
 194

Table 5 (continued)
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6
2012–2013 2013–2014 2014–2015 2015–2016 2016–2017 Fall, 2017 (Present)
Inquiry-­oriented Inquiry-based Inquiry-based Inquiry-based Inquiry-based partners as Inquiry-based
consultants hired partners as thinking
consultants as thinking partners as thinking thinking partners (invited by consultants continue as
partners begins partners (invited by partners teachers) thinking partners
teachers)
CA Common Core CC & inquiry centered PD – Project-­based PBL & inquiry-based Additional emphasis on Focus on literacies/
State Standards PD/Curriculum & Learning and PD (CC & NGSS) literacies & mathematics student-driven learning
adopted (PD) assess development inquiry (CC) ‘Transdisciplinary’ enters
J. Puglisi and B. V. Yeager
Putting the STEAM in the River: Potential Transformative Roles of Science… 195

Table 6  Teacher reflection on inquiry-based instructional design

Now I see IBID can take on many forms throughout the disciplines. Using literacy-based
instruction, using animals, using plants, art. It is more about the learning journey that you allow
your students to experience.
These empowering experiences allow students to unfold their thinking, their questions, and
skills. When a student travels through this discovery and investigative process, they gain so
much internally and are more confident in showing, sharing, telling, trying and collaborating. It
is truly a transformative process that takes place and it will stay with them forever. (IBID
Teacher, Summer, 2017)

pating teacher in the 2017 Summer Institute. This excerpt succinctly supports our
view that the “IBID” track is a key catalytic process in moving to STEAM in our
inquiry-based model.
With these overlapping efforts, several questions emerge. Why STEAM, for
example? What is the relationship between STEAM and STEM, and why has STEM
not been a part of the “official” language of the Rio District since 2012, even as it
remains prevalent in other local, state, and national settings?

3.4  Why STEAM in the Context of a Culture of Inquiry?

To explore this question, we looked further at the events and patterns of practice in
Table 5. We also examined the ways in which our catalytic leader and other partners
have come to think about STEM and STEAM in the context of inquiry.
As noted earlier, the Rio superintendent began using STEAM rather than STEM
in his personal and professional conversations in late 2012/early 2013. He did so
because it made sense to him. At the time, STEM was a term used by teachers, and
used in literature and in other settings. For the most part, the acronym STEM was
invoked primarily by teachers and others in Rio (as it was in many districts and
other public settings) as an acronym for four separate disciplines – as an easy way
to think about these disciplines and encourage a focus on them in schools.
On one hand, while focusing on inquiry, as Dr. Puglisi described in an interview,
“STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning activities
provided an easy platform for many teachers and community to relate to in terms of
doing things differently in schools. The District began these efforts by moving
towards becoming a one-to-one District or one-to-the-world District, which pro-
vided each child a networkable computer device. Simultaneously, we looked at
what we were doing in the name of science and math and for opportunities to engage
in more hands on, minds on doing activities and projects that connected the STEM
subject areas and practices.”
As shown in Table 5, a key catalytic track, the Rio Summer Science Academy,
began in 2013–2014 in the spirit of Dr. Puglisi’s description above. This Academy
was started in partnership with Dr. Jerome Clifford, a Physics Lecturer at California
196 J. Puglisi and B. V. Yeager

State University, Channel Islands. The Academy has increased teacher and student
capacity, and it allows teachers to pilot hands-on, minds-on activities for classroom
use later.
But the issue of STEM versus STEAM, in public naming, was not really an
issue. This was because Dr. Puglisi, first, and then the Rio District later, did not see
it as an issue. As Dr. Puglisi described, his decision to focus initially on the STEM
disciplines – as STEM – was pragmatic. In his mind, the arts were always present,
as were the Humanities, Social Science, Literature, and so on. In addition, the
superintendent and other partners also had inquiry and the 5 C’s at the forefront of
their thinking. Finally, multiple, sometimes arbitrary and confusing, definitions of
STEM complicated matters (Seikmann 2016). Was it inclusive or exclusive? Was it
compatible with our views of multidisciplinary approaches, for our view of twenty-­
first-­century learning and inquiry? Some definitions hinted at yes, while others sug-
gested no. So, in fact, STEM as a construct for District public discourse (and
therefore overarching approach) was not particularly relevant or useful in Rio,
despite particular activities in practice in the district in 2012–2013 and beyond. It
just made more sense to include the arts and use STEAM.
In February 2013, Rio held its first VC STEAMN’ Colloquium. This event cen-
tered on Symmetry (across disciplines) and was open to teachers throughout Ventura
County. Dr. Puglisi named this widely popular event. By 2014, two additional
Colloquiums had followed. As shown in Table 5, this key catalytic track, along with
the later mission statement and goals, began codifying STEAM in the common Rio
language and approach. STEAM became part of a system of professional develop-
ment, too, that included a focus on Project Based Learning.
STEAM made sense to us in the context of our other transformative efforts. First,
we saw inquiry and inquiry practices at the center of both STEM and STEAM. Second,
as an artist and a musician, the superintendent understood how these disciplines fit
with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Further, engaging in
­creativity (5 C’s) and artistic thinking in multiple disciplines, and collectively bring-
ing these multiple perspectives to solve complex problems, made sense to him, and
to us. We took these transdisciplinary ideas and proposed them to teachers in vari-
ous existing inquiry-oriented contexts. But key to this process was the leader as
Catalyst, who proposed ideas and perspectives and then let go of them as members
of our larger community (e.g., teachers, students, administrators, etc.) were inspired
to assimilate, (re)formulate, and act on them. In doing so, they drew on the common
language of inquiry, transdisciplinarity, and STEAM that we’ve co-constructed.
STEAM also makes sense in the context of our evolving notion of transdiscipli-
narity, which in turn has its roots in the context of the open nature of inquiry-based
practices and design and of twenty-first-century learning practices. Transdisciplinary
approaches are used primarily in higher education, but we see potential for their use
Putting the STEAM in the River: Potential Transformative Roles of Science… 197

in K-8 schools, as well. Transdisciplinarity involves (metaphorically speaking)

looking through multiple disciplinary lenses (Klein 2000), making something new.
We see value in working with students to draw on multiple perspectives, from mul-
tiple disciplines, to develop new approaches for solving problems. In other words, it
takes multiple perspectives, whether they’re included and named as STEAM disci-
plines or in addition to those disciplines, to address “wicked problems.” Therefore,
it makes sense to us to bring this to bear in problem-based learning approaches. At
the same time, we value a practice-based approach. For this reason, we also con-
sider artistic thinking and practice (Marshall 2014) as essential to transdisciplinary
approaches. STEAM allows problems to be reviewed through different perspec-
tives, but it is also a starting point for bringing additional perspectives to bear from
other disciplines.
Why STEAM? Because the arts and artistic/musical thinking are essential and
because all of our transformative efforts to date to build a culture of inquiry in the
context of twenty-first-century learning, from a transdisciplinary perspective, can-
not help but include STEAM as a central component.
All of this comes together (Table  5) in what has been a three-year journey to
design, build, and open (in Fall, 2018) a new K-8 Rio STEAM Academy. While
space does not permit a full description of this journey, we offer an event map to
make it visible (Table 7).
As shown in Table 5, a new STEAM school was first envisioned in a Rio Master
Plan and adopted in September 2014. There is no evidence in the Plan that there was
ever any discussion of a “STEM” School.
Multiple interrelated processes occurred over time, including stakeholder Design
Team meetings and conversations with a Chumash elder (a group spiritually and
historically tied to the school site). All of these activities affected architectural plans
and decisions about the STEAM Academy. As part of this same process, recruiting
and selecting faculty for the school from existing teachers occurred in May 2017,
more than a year and a half before the school was expected to open. Early hiring was
unique, but also important, so that teachers could begin building community,
develop a common language, and design guiding principles for planning curriculum
and instruction.
Overarching goals (Table 8) for the STEAM Academy currently guide faculty
work. Importantly, the Academy goals are grounded in the superintendent’s vision,
the broader Rio District vision, mission, and goals, and in what was co-constructed,
over time, by the Design Teams and other stakeholders.
STEAM teachers as of this writing had participated in a 2-day orientation and a
3-week Summer Institute. Table 9 provides excerpts from reflective writings by fac-
ulty at the end of the Institute.
In these excerpts, we find references to key constructs, to community, and to
STEAM, as well as reflections of the larger vision for the school that, in turn, was
grounded in earlier and simultaneous transformative efforts over time.
 198

Table 7  Event map/timeline: Overview of STEAM Academy development process to date

Year 1 (Aug 2014–July 2015) Year 2 (Aug 2015–July 2016) Year 3 (Aug 2016–July/Aug 2017)
Aug–
Aug–Dec Jan–Apr May–July Dec Jan–Apr May–July Aug–Dec Jan–Apr May–Jun
Facilities Master STEAM Citizens Oversight Draft initial Larger extended
Plan Overarching School sites Committee meeting. Environ group
goals for tour (small Impact development
STEAM School group) Analysis partners meet.
Citizen Initial report
Oversight meeting completed
Committee COC
established
(Board)
Measure “G”
Bond Passage
Design Team Day-long Design Team general Design Ongoing Design Team STEAM info
meetings 1&2 Design session 4 Team meetings re: meeting 6 meeting open to
(sites and Team meeting indigenous ways (architect and all Rio teachers
overarching Sessions First meeting with 5 of knowing Chumash Hiring process –
hopes and vision and general Chumash elder and related to nearby elder present) positions opened
for school) meeting 3 architect (and other river, to school to current Rio
partners) re: site design School faculty
spiritual and members.
physical history,
relationship to
school design.
J. Puglisi and B. V. Yeager
Year 1 (Aug 2014–July 2015) Year 2 (Aug 2015–July 2016) Year 3 (Aug 2016–July/Aug 2017)
Aug–
Aug–Dec Jan–Apr May–July Dec Jan–Apr May–July Aug–Dec Jan–Apr May–Jun
Core team Preliminary draft Core team Applications,
leadership framework for leadership interviews, hiring
meetings teamwork meetings (completed by
begin (toward (professional April 6)
staffing, PD, work)
etc.) Process for Finalize
determining PD/ overarching
curriculum and goals
instruction description and
development application
facilitation materials for
staffing
Facilitator (PD)
confirmed
Putting the STEAM in the River: Potential Transformative Roles of Science…
199
200 J. Puglisi and B. V. Yeager

Table 8  STEAM Academy initial overarching goals

Twenty-first-century learning practices
Transdisciplinary, multi-age, student-driven/teacher-facilitated, STEAM-oriented content
learning
Commitment to designing and planning inquiry-based curriculum and instruction in the contexts
of place, culture, and “real-world” problems
Commitment to creating a STEAM school and team that will be a fluid and collaborative effort,
welcoming of input and expertise from multiple sources, whether it be from students, other
teachers, family members, or Chumash elders, Mixtec community groups, and other
community members supportive of culturally responsive ways of learning, as well as other
community partners

Table 9  Excerpts from STEAM foundational faculty end-of-summer-institute reflections

A I used to think transdisciplinarity was a complicated concept and applying it will require a
group of mindful people who can embrace chaos. Now I’m realizing that this group of
educator/learners is up to the task and will be patient, empathizing practitioners as we
navigate this new river.
B I used to think the STEAM Academy was simply a school site that we would fill with
students, teachers, and administrators. I’m now realizing that we are building a culture that
will catapult the curriculum and our community into places that we’ve never been to. And
that uncomfortable uncertainty is a good thing.
C I used to think that we were designing a STEAM School. Now, I think we are building so
much more. ... a new way of being.
D I used to think the STEAM Academy would be similar to a traditional school, just with more
STEAM aspects to it and maker spaces. Now I’m realizing the STEAM Academy will be
much different. I learned what transdisciplinary was and how everything will connect. I also
realized our grades won’t be siloed and we will be teaching multi-age.
E We have a dynamic group of educators and leaders, where we all have individual strengths
and personalities. What we have in common is the goal of becoming better teachers and
leading our students to become stronger learners and future leaders. We are all willing to
take chances and understand that we need to “go with the flow,” regarding uncertainties/
challenges that will arise with a brand new school. I’m proud to be a member of this group.. .

4  Conclusions

In this chapter, we reviewed a transformative journey toward change in teaching and

learning over time in one school district – a journey toward building twenty-first-­
century learning within a culture of inquiry, which in turn encompasses a STEAM
approach orientation rather than a STEM approach. A key leader who also served as
a catalyst was critical in this journey, proposing ideas and visions, then stepping back
to let the community consider them and reformulate them to create something new.
1. Rather than a “leaderless organization,” the key leader supported a shared-­
expertise model of distributed leadership that facilitated change efforts.
2. Inquiry was a central aspect of both the transformative journey (inquiry as
stance) and a central process (inquiry-based design and learning); it led to ways
Putting the STEAM in the River: Potential Transformative Roles of Science… 201

of seeing inquiry at the center of STEAM, providing a rationale for including

artistic thinking and practice as important components.
3. A series of through-time patterns of practice could be identified that served as
catalytic processes. These processes were key in how STEAM efforts were
named, codified within the public Rio space, and then (re)formulated.
The transition to new approaches to “doing school” has taken time to develop. It
is not a top-down process of prescription and transmission. Rather, it is a process of
envisioning and exploring and of dialogue and negotiation and a process of proposal
and take up – or not. For some teachers, change has come slowly, particularly at the
middle-school level. For others, especially in K-5, change has come more rapidly.
The opportunity to really hear students’ questions, to empower them to investigate
them, or the opportunity to explore exciting possibilities through art and music
together with science, technology, engineering, and math  – it’s all very exciting.
Some of the teachers can take it up more fully; others are taking small steps. Over
time, however, we see that STEAM activities and learning environment transforma-
tions are becoming more common each year.
Rio’s classrooms are now more inquiry-based, transdisciplinary, engaging, dif-
ferentiated, student-driven, blended, passion-based, and culturally situated. As a
result, student and employee attendance has improved; student citizenship has
improved; standardized literacy assessment results have improved; student, teacher,
and parent perceptions of the District have improved; and a state-of-the-art K-8
STEAM Academy is (as of this writing) well on the path to opening. Rio is moving
toward a more effective twenty-first-century learning organization that continues to
aim to be “world class” by various measures or perceptions.

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from [Link]

John Puglisi, PhD,  is the Superintendent of the Rio School

District and an Adjunct Professor in the Graduate School of
Education at California State University, Channel Islands. His
research concerns educational leadership, transdisciplinary, and
the intersections of technology, teaching, and educational systems.

Beth V.  Yeager, PhD,  is a consultant in the areas of literacy,

inquiry-based instruction, and practitioner research with Rio
School District, as well as “embedded” ethnographer in the initia-
tion of the STEAM school process in the District. A former ele-
mentary teacher, she is a researcher retired from California State
University, East Bay (Institute for STEM Education) and Gevirtz
Graduate School of Education at University of California, Santa
Barbara. Her research interests include ethnographic and dis-
course-based studies in classroom and professional learning set-
tings, with a focus on academic identities, language and social
processes, and issues of equity of access (particularly for linguis-
tically diverse students).
Emerging Scenarios to Enhance Creativity
in Smart Cities Through STEAM
Education and the Gradual Immersion
Method

Jorge Sanabria-Z and Margarida Romero

1  Introduction

“Smart cities” are now envisioned as a way to improve civic life in the twenty-first
century. In this context, smart cities need innovative industries, and innovative
industries require creative people with profiles and skills, capable of solving prob-
lems through multidisciplinary means, with an acute vision for identifying opportu-
nities and threats. These trends are driving a boom in creative spaces to learn and
produce – things that break with the paradigm of traditional education, even in for-
mal institutions. The projects that occur in these spaces are therefore disruptive:
They combine, for example, the tools of digital fabrication and efforts to bring the
community together, with the aim of looking for solutions to the immediate envi-
ronment. The speed with which new technologies emerge stimulates a constant
demand for guided learning in future scenarios of smart cities. We used the Gradual
Immersion Method (GIM) to promote creativity and collaboration, taking advan-
tage of the benefits of augmented reality in consideration of STEAM. In this chap-
ter, we present two scenarios for applying GIM in a STEAM context, one of which
addresses a proposal for co-creating an interactive and sustainable “smart cities”
environment.

J. Sanabria-Z (*)
Innovation Generation and Management Program, University of Guadalajara,
Guadalajara, Mexico
e-mail: sanabria@[Link]
M. Romero
Laboratoire d’Innovation et Numérique pour l’Éducation,
Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, Nice, France
e-mail: [Link]@[Link]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 203

A. J. Stewart et al. (eds.), Converting STEM into STEAM Programs,
Environmental Discourses in Science Education 5,
[Link]
204 J. Sanabria-Z and M. Romero

1.1  Challenges for the Twenty-First-Century Citizens

According to the World Economic Forum (2016), we have entered the fourth indus-
trial revolution. In this context, new skills are needed to address societal challenges
created by artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics technologies. Technologies that
can replace some traditional human jobs are challenging the way we should con-
sider education (Robinson and Aronica 2016; Romero et al. 2017), the rise of the
creative class, and its impacts on cities (Florida 2014). According to Florida (op.
cit.), there are three types of creative individuals: creative professionals, super-­
creative professionals, and bohemians. The creative class now comprises about 30%
of the US workforce, including a 12% “super-creative core” of innovative profes-
sionals and a surrounding suite of about 18% of “creative professionals.” Creative
professionals add value to the (complex) solving task: These innovative individuals
create new products and services. Moreover, the super-creative core goes beyond an
existing problem and can set new ways of understanding or managing an existing
reality. The super-creative core includes workers in science, engineering, education,
computer programming, and research, as well as designers, artists, and media work-
ers who are “fully engaged in the creative process” and “along with problem solv-
ing, their work may entail problem finding” (Florida 2002, p.  69). Creative
professionals, in comparison, work primarily in healthcare, business and finance,
and legal and educational sectors. They “draw on complex bodies of knowledge to
solve specific problems,” which requires a certain degree of education and lifelong
learning. Florida (op. cit.) also describes a small group of Bohemians in the creative
class, who develop creative activities without professional constraints. These differ-
ent creative agents within Florida’s concept of “creative class” can strongly affect
cities. Studies in the field of innovation and economy of the last decade have identi-
fied interactions between the cities and the creative class. For instance, Hutton
(2017) describes different types of creative activities that affect city organization
and explains how cities shape the ways in which creative organizations, collectives,
and individuals adapt their activities according to a city’s constraints.
The city also is an important ecosystem for technologically based start-up com-
panies which require a great concentration of talent, but do not need much for space
for production, stock, or sales due to the high dematerialization of their creative
activities. But even as city concentrates part of the creative class, another important
phenomenon emerges: the smart city, which uses technologies to improve citizens’
life in terms of “…livability, workability and sustainability. In simplest terms, there
are three parts to that job: collecting, communicating and ‘crunching’” (Smart
Cities Council 2013). A smart city collects information about itself through sensors,
other devices, and existing systems. It then communicates those data using wired or
wireless networks. And finally, it crunches (analyzes) data to help explain what is
happening now and what is likely to happen next.
Emerging Scenarios to Enhance Creativity in Smart Cities Through STEAM Education… 205

Most cities within developed countries have embraced the Smart City approach:
Barcelona, Singapore, Nice, Montréal, and thousands of other cities are eager to
show the advances developed to improve their citizens’ lives through the use of
technologies.
According to a literary review by Caragliu et al. (2014), some smart city attri-
butes are as follows:
–– A capacity to combine infrastructure and connectivity for social, cultural, and
urban development.
–– An emphasis on developing an environment that favors business
–– Social inclusion as part of an equitable city-growth strategy
–– A tendency to promote creative and high-tech industries for generating creative
cultures that strengthen urban performance
–– Community participation in using technologies, an empowerment that allows
them to adapt and innovate
–– As a crucial component in their development, smart cities typically aim to
achieve social and environmental sustainability.
In their review, Caragliu et al. (op. cit.) conclude by noting that combining the last
two dimensions, “community participation” and “sustainability,” is actually what
best defines the smart city concept.
Considering the above perspectives, one can infer that beyond city infrastructure,
it is essential to reinforce the creativity that feeds these intelligent spaces. This idea
connects smart cities to education and business.
With the start of the twenty-first century, educational models and competency
frameworks have been adjusted and reformed to help insert students in the profes-
sional arena and support them throughout life, according to contemporary demands.
Among these frameworks are the P21’s Framework for 21st Century Learning (P21
2010), enGauge 21st Century Skills (Burkhardt et  al. 2003), Nuevo Modelo
Educativo (SEP 2017), and the Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills
(ATC21S) project (Binkley et al. 2012).
Based on the Québec curriculum program (Gouvernement du Québec 2011) and
the P21 Framework (Trilling and Fadel 2009), the #CoCreaTIC framework for the
main five competencies for the twenty-first-century includes four competencies –
critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and problem solving – and includes com-
putational thinking (Wing 2006; Romero 2016). Computational thinking is
important for developing cognitive and metacognitive strategies for problem-­solving
based on computer science strategies, knowledge, and techniques (Fig. 1).
Within the #CoCreaTIC #5c21 framework, these five main competencies are
considered independent, but the relations among them are an important aspect of the
model. In techno-creative activities such as educational robotics team-based proj-
ects, learners use all five competencies (Kamga et al. 2016).
The #5c21 proposes the intersection of these five competencies, surrounded by
critical thinking, resulting in the following seven combinations:
206 J. Sanabria-Z and M. Romero

Fig. 1  Five competencies of CoCreaTIC’s framework of twenty-first century (Romero 2016).

(Reprinted from “Guide d’activités technocréatives pour les enfants du 21e siècle,” (1st ed., p.6),
Québec: Livres en Lignes du CRIRES, by M. Romero 2016)

• Collaborative problem-solving
• Computing-based problem-solving
• Creative computational thinking
• Co-creativity
• Creative problem-solving (not shown in diagram)
• Collaborative computational thinking (not shown in the diagram)
• The global link of the five competencies as critical, computational, and co-­
creative problem-solving
Thus, we propose a direct relationship between Caragliu et al.’s (2014) attributes of
the smart city and CoCreaTIC’s combined twenty-first-century competencies
(Romero 2016). We suggest critical thinking is a general competency that influences
all combinations; this idea is expressed in Table 1.
Emerging Scenarios to Enhance Creativity in Smart Cities Through STEAM Education… 207

Table 1  Relationship between Caragliu et al.’s (2014) attributes of the smart cities CoCreaTIC’s
combined twenty-first-century competencies (Romero 2016)

Gray-shaded cells indicate cases where the two sets overlap. (Elaborated by J.  Sanabria-Z &
M. Romero)

The gray-shaded overlaps in Table 1 show the different combinations of compe-

tencies that potentially influence smart city attributes. Several attributes of smart
cities involve collaborative solution proposals (e.g., C1, E3), while others require
technologies used in creative or collaborative ways (e.g., A6, F2). Moreover, co-­
creativity has a major place in the set of smart city attributes, due to the social
­characteristics of the attributes which may reflect as organized and productive
growth (i.e., column 4).
Twenty-first-century citizens must be able to monitor city performance and
devise and implement a general growth strategy toward social and environmental
sustainability.
Relationships between smart city attributes and twenty-first-century competen-
cies permit different scenarios for smart city growth. Emerging from public and
private spaces, some community-led programs and movements establish powerful
learning initiatives. These events are drawing attention to the role of education in
modeling the learning process and demonstrably integrate STEAM activities into
the curricula, thus further developing student’s competencies. We introduce two of
these scenarios in the sections below and offer one scenario (relating to chemical
bonds) in another chapter in this book.
208 J. Sanabria-Z and M. Romero

2  S
 cenario 1: Competence-Driven Learning
Through Makerspaces, Remote Robotics, and Interactive
Museums

STEAM curricula can integrate various disciplines, through formal or nonformal

education pathways, in spaces with educational services (such as museums) and in
settings for co-creation (such as makerspaces). But for any of these routes, a signifi-
cant challenge is that of helping students understand the importance of cross-­
disciplinary work. This generally can be accomplished through well-crafted
cross-disciplinary projects.

2.1  Makerspaces

Many traditional and nontraditional educational institutions are now incorporating

maker laboratories into their facilities. These maker laboratories are emerging
because younger generations desire more experiential modes of learning. Several
examples follow.

2.1.1  Digital Fabrication Laboratories in Mexico

In 2017, the first network of in-school maker laboratories in Mexico was launched
at the University of Guadalajara (UdeG). These laboratories were designed for use
by students at the high school level. The network is part of the FabLearn global
network organized by the Graduate School of Education of Stanford University. The
network started with nine labs in the state of Jalisco and demonstrates the a­ cademy’s
interests in discovering alternatives to traditional formal education. The nine maker
labs support informal learning with relevance to the curriculum and social innova-
tion: they evoke solutions from within, to address challenges of the immediate
environment.

2.1.2  The EspaceLab of Quebec

This community-managed makerspace, in Québec, Canada, links its activities with

those in regional schools. The lab is located in the library Monique Corriveau in
Sainte-Foy and is a member of the FabLabs community; it facilitates access for
users with diverse technological skills, of all ages. The EspaceLab Junior offers
workshops for people between ages 8 and 14, fostering the culture and skills of co-­
creative problem-solving, technological innovation, scientific approach, and digital
manufacturing. Some of the projects make items from recycled or low-cost materi-
als and electrical components, but some students may use Scratch visual program-
Emerging Scenarios to Enhance Creativity in Smart Cities Through STEAM Education… 209

ming or educational robots. Teachers from five schools in Quebec City and two
schools in Montreal participate in techno-creative activities that can be adapted to
each of the classes and different programming technologies, electronics, and educa-
tional robotics.

2.1.3  The Project #SmartCityMaker

A Franco-Canadian initiative referred to as #SmartCityMaker brings together

researchers, students, and parents. This initiative is organized by the School of the
Teaching and Education, the National Institute of Research in Computer Science
and Automation, and Laval University (project renamed as #fabville). The project
involves co-constructing an ecotech smart city in an interdisciplinary makers lab
scenario; citizens help in building a city model that offers techno-creative solutions
to sustainable development challenges and risk management. Moreover, through a
pedagogically innovative approach, #SmartCityMaker helps develop students’
twenty-first-century skills such as collaborative problem-solving, co-creativity, and
computational thinking, by relating the students to their territory and to the digital
world (Anciaux et al. 2016).

2.1.4  #R2T2 Remote Robotics

Recent international collaborations target lower education levels. Such is the case of
the project R2T2, which seeks to activate the intra-country interactions among
young engineers (6–15 years old). The R2T2 approach involves a series of space
missions that brought together several countries that interact online with tiny
Thymio robots to accomplish various adventures. The R2T2 project is sponsored by
the Swiss Space Center and manifests through the Federal Polytechnic School of
Lausanne and the National Center of Competence in Robotic Research. It is an
educational robotics challenge that simulates an international mission where chil-
dren from several countries control remote Thymio robots located in Switzerland.
“R2T2 Caribbean and America” and “R2T2 Meteor” events were launched in
2017. These events were designed to promote problem resolution, critical thinking,
collaboration, and teamwork among elementary-age students in Mexico, France,
Canada, Russia, Santa Lucía, and elsewhere.
The four cases above show the relevance of planning with views at developing
competencies considering contemporary challenging scenarios. In these cases,
competencies of the twenty-first century are developed using artistic components as
part of the activities. UdeG labs training, which is based on GIM, requires partici-
pants to use digital design tools in 2D, 3D, and RA to construct their idea sketches,
which are finalized in 3D physical prototyping. Likewise, students working on the
#SmartCityMaker and #fabville projects construct city models with materials such
as cardboard and recycled materials. The R2T2 project uses a scale model of power
generators in Switzerland and simulates the environment from another planet; par-
210 J. Sanabria-Z and M. Romero

ticipants control their robots remotely to complete a mission. For most of these
projects, it would be impossible to imagine the results without the use of art tools
and design software, which justifies the importance of considering STEAM to
achieve the effective development of co-creation competencies.

3  T
 he Gradual Immersion Method for Enhancing Creativity
and Collaboration

We devised the Gradual Immersion Method (GIM) as an “intuitive approach involv-

ing learners in creativity-enhancing activities that familiarize them with the use of
technologies for digital creation” (Sanabria 2015). The GIM is a pedagogical–cog-
nitive approach based on the creative process and is composed of three cyclical
phases of generation and exploration. These phases are applied through three mod-
ules: familiarization, digital creation, and exhibition (Fig. 2).
AR stands for augmented reality. Adapted from “The Gradual Immersion Method
(GIM): Pedagogical Transformation into Mixed Reality” by J.  Sanabria, 2015,
Procedia Computer Science, 75, p. 371
The three modules work by aiding participants’ navigation into the appropriation
of a certain topic through various activities. For example, during an introduction to
the work of iconic architect Luis Barragan (see Fig. 3), various scenarios may be
proposed to help student understand his building-design technique.
Module I (familiarization) identifies a Learning Object (LO) comprised of struc-
tured activities. The LO includes instructions, goals, tasks, and evaluations (Wiley
2000). Each set of interactive activities allows students to familiarize themselves on
a topic by solving short challenges and reflecting on their learning experience and/
or perception of the activities. A LO about Luis Barragan’s buildings, for example,
uses an interactive screen and may first instruct the participant to observe a number
of his works to identify their common features. The students then explore how
Barragan’s color palette changes the image of a gray building by adding colors digi-
tally into pictures. Finally, the students associate 3D geometric figures with a
Barragan masterpiece by dragging them to it. At any time, the participant may be
instructed to reflect on the features of Barragan’s style and input those conclusions
into the system, what in the GIM are called “criteria,” a sort of self-description of

Fig. 2  The three GIM modules: familiarization, digital creation, and exhibition
Emerging Scenarios to Enhance Creativity in Smart Cities Through STEAM Education… 211

Fig. 3  Architect Luis Barragan’s “Cuadra San Cristobal,” Los Clubes, Mexico City, 1966–1968.
Photos: Armando Salas Portugal (Barragan Foundation, 2019). Reprinted with permission; D.R. ©
Barragan Foundation / SOMAAP / 2019

their understanding of how activities are perceived or what the activities taught
them (e.g., “In this activity I realized that Barragan tended to design wide spaces
harmonized with giant geometric structures on bright colors”). At the end of the
module, students evaluate their level of learning by identifying Barragan’s buildings
among a provided variety of famous artists’ creations. The different activities allow
students to interact with didactic materials, gradually advancing from 2D to 3D
models. The module also allows peer evaluation as an activity is completed, depend-
ing on the interests of the instructor or facilitator.
Module II (digital creation) starts when participants understand the theme from
different perspectives. By this point, it is expected that participants have character-
ized their own criteria about the LO in Module I.  Module II provides a digital-­
creation LO, instructing students to select tools for constructing 3D concepts/
models or even audios, based on their previous criteria. Here, an example of the
instruction is “Design your own Barragan’s style studio using the 3D digital tools on
the screen.” Module II culminates by transferring their 3D digital creation into an
augmented reality (AR) artistic expression, by anchoring it into the physical context
(e.g., a 3D digital window frame based on Barragan’s style, positioned on the façade
of an ancient building using a geolocation function on a mobile device).
Module III (exhibition) involves exhibiting the participants’ proposals as a mix
between the physical and digital work, known as a “mixed-reality experience.” For
example, by pointing a mobile device to an apartment building, different shapes and
sizes of Barragan architecture 3D digital elements, such as windows or fountains,
may be seen floating or anchored on the facades. Students seek ways to obtain feed-
back on the project from a target audience. The audience, while involved in evaluat-
ing the project, also comes to understand the exercise of overlapping 3D digital
elements on buildings to simulate Barragan’s work. In this way, the audience is
encouraged to co-create other versions of the project components, their own digital
windows using Barragan’s style, for instance, thus further disseminating learning.
212 J. Sanabria-Z and M. Romero

Fig. 4  Example representation of the three GIM modules for learning about Luis Barragan’s
architectural style. (Elaborated by J. Sanabria-Z and M. Romero)

The diagram below shows how the activities described above can be structured
through the GIM three modules so students can learn about Luis Barragan’s archi-
tectural style (see Fig. 4).
We offer two examples, below, showing how the GIM was implemented. These
examples emphasize creative aspects of learning through GIM, with discipline
focused on artistic creation through Surrealism and on smart city habitats,
respectively.

3.1  Applying GIM to “Creating Surreal Expressions”

This example centered on learning features about the artistic movement of

Surrealism. It was a collaborative activity accomplished by high school students in
a museum environment. The project focused on the concept of bisociation (Koestler
1964). Bisociation is understood as interactions between two elements (e.g., photo-
graphs of people, animals, or things) that appear to be unrelated, but which, when
combined, establish a third element with a meaning not evident in the isolated origi-
nal elements. We track the bisociation project successively through the three GIM
modules in the section below (Sanabria et al. 2015).

3.2  Module I: Familiarization with Surrealist Works

Students from technology, art, and competency-centered high schools were orga-
nized into mixed teams (five to six students per team). The team members then were
allowed to become familiar with the idea of Surrealism by solving a set of activities
(the Learning Object) based on bisociation. In these activities, students were chal-
lenged to solve topics by observation, combination, association, grouping, and dis-
cernment before evaluating their learning. Figure 5, for example, shows performance
during the activity “Grouping,” in which the students drag images of surrealist
Emerging Scenarios to Enhance Creativity in Smart Cities Through STEAM Education… 213

Fig. 5  A team of students at a museum, solving the activity “Grouping” by dragging pictures of
surrealist paintings into groups and labeling them. Sanabria-Z, J. (photographer) (2017). Grouping
on AMLA [photograph]. Guadalajara, Jal

paintings into groups, which are labeled by the team members regarding their own
perceptions (paradise, nature, joy, etc.).
The learning objectives included five activities and an evaluation task and were
displayed on interactive whiteboards. After accomplishing the activities, students
assimilated the topics by evaluating other teams’ work. In the figure below, the
interface for each activity is shown: Observation aimed at building criteria about the
common characteristics of various bisociated images. Combination aimed at build-
ing their own bisociations using animals, objects, and persons. Association focused
on realizing what elements correspond to the painting by dragging them to it.
Grouping was a perception task to understand what features are common among
surrealist paintings. Discerning showed two similar paintings from different art
movements, so that students could choose the one portraying surrealist features. The
Evaluation task showed the bisociation proposals made on the Combination activ-
ity, asking other teams to score them on a creativity scale showing levels of original-
ity, flexibility, and fluency (see Fig. 6).

3.3  M
 odule II: Creating Surreal Expressions with Augmented
Reality

Once the surrealist concept was appropriated, the student teams propose their own
version of bisociated elements. This was done using an augmented reality (AR)
application in a mobile device to anchor provided 3D digital objects in the physical
environment (Arámburo-Lizárraga and Sanabria 2015) (Fig. 7).
214 J. Sanabria-Z and M. Romero

Fig. 6  Module I of the GIM for Surrealism centered on students’ appropriation of some features
of this art movement through activities based on bisociation. Students assimilated the concept of
Surrealism by tasks such as combining information from pairs of images, grouping surrealist paint-
ings, or associating elements to a painting (Sanabria and Arámburo-Lizárraga 2017). Reprinted
from “Enhancing 21st Century Skills with AR: Using the Gradual Immersion Method to develop
Collaborative Creativity” by J.  Sanabria and J.  Arámburo-Lizárraga, 2017, Eurasia Journal of
Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 13(2), p. 497

Fig. 7  Module II of the GIM applied to surrealistic expression. Creation was accomplished with
the help of AR operated on a mobile (Sanabria and Arámburo-Lizárraga 2017). Reprinted from
“Enhancing 21st Century Skills with AR: Using the Gradual Immersion Method to develop
Collaborative Creativity” by J.  Sanabria and J.  Arámburo-Lizárraga, 2017, Eurasia Journal of
Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 13(2), p. 498
Emerging Scenarios to Enhance Creativity in Smart Cities Through STEAM Education… 215

3.4  Module III: Exhibition of Surrealist Expressions

In Module III, the students displayed their surrealist expressions to an audience, a

researcher, or to their peers (Fig.  8). The audience may provide feedback using
instruments or scales provided by the researcher or instructor. For instance, evalua-
tors could visit the physical location where the digital elements are anchored and
used the scale in the application to record their impressions. For this project, the AR
surrealist expressions created by the students were rated by the researchers using the
same scale as in the evaluation or Module I to measure talent through originality,
fluency, and flexibility of the proposed works.

3.5  Learnings from the Co-creative Experience

In the research of surrealist expressions created by participants with technological,

artistic, and competency-centered profiles, we compared GIM results with the
Multifactorial Evaluation of Creativity (MUEC) (Sánchez Escobedo et al. 2009), an
instrument that measures creative talent. This comparison was based on the same
parameters (originality, flexibility, and fluency) and showed that the GIM reduces
differences between student profiles, suggesting that its modules facilitated the cre-
ative talent of the participants. In general, the significance or the method is how it
stimulated students and allowed us to evaluate the creative competency from

Fig. 8  Module III of the GIM on surrealistic expressions, using AR supplied through a mobile
device (Sanabria and Arámburo-Lizárraga 2017). Reprinted from “Enhancing 21st Century Skills
with AR: Using the Gradual Immersion Method to develop Collaborative Creativity” by J. Sanabria
and J.  Arámburo-Lizárraga, 2017, Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology
Education, 13(2), p. 498
216 J. Sanabria-Z and M. Romero

s­ tudents of a wide range of profiles, using digital technologies in an intuitive fashion

(Sanabria et al. 2015).

4  S
 cenario 2: GIM-Based Co-creative Proposal for Smart
City Habitats

A GIM approach can increase student creativity by supporting “community partici-

pation” and “sustainability” objectives under smart city attributes. This GIM-based
project, dealing with habitats, involves junior high school students, 11 to 15 years
old. The students identify smart city characteristics through team-constructed activ-
ities. Accomplishing these objectives allows the students to generate proposals and
receive feedback on their implementation plans. The instructional design for the
selection of the stimuli to be provided to students – that is, the images and models –
should be carefully planned by the researchers, considering Caragliu et al.’s (2014)
summary of attributes of smart cities introduced at the beginning of this chapter
(“Combination of infrastructure and connectivity for social, cultural, and urban
development,” “Emphasis on the development of an environment that favors busi-
ness,” and so forth).
Familiarization activities for the Learning Object in Module I for smart city habi-
tats, the steps for digital creation in Module II, and guidelines for conducting the
exhibition are shown in Fig. 9. These items may inspire guidelines for designing a
more integral set of activities, in which the topics should relate to smart city
­attributes and the Learning Object might include different inputs besides pictures
and 3D models, such as blogs, videos, and audios, to help enrich the students’
knowledge about the topic.

4.1  Module I: Familiarize Students with Smart City Concepts

To familiarize students about habitat co-creation for smart cities, the following
activities could apply:

4.1.1  Reflecting

Futuristic habitat solution videos are shown representing various living challenges,
such as transportation, access to food, waste disposal, green space, affordable hous-
ing, etc. In this activity, the participants should reflect on needs and resources and
generate criteria for these things (see Fig. 10).
Emerging Scenarios to Enhance Creativity in Smart Cities Through STEAM Education… 217

Fig. 9  GIM-based activities for the Smart City project focusing on habitats. (Elaborated by
J. Sanabria-Z and M. Romero)

Fig. 10  Opening activity with videos of futuristic habitat solutions to evoke students’ reflection,
such as the “Dynamic Tower” (Fisher, 2017), the “House on ile renelavasseur” (Mark Foster Gage
Architects, LLC 2015), or “Sanbock Doro” (Gonzalez, 2017). Adapted from Pexels (2015) by
J. Sanabria-Z, based on photos by Philipp Birmes (left), Riccardo Bresciani (center), and Pixabay
(right)

4.1.2  Exploring

For this activity, we suggest a third-party online resource, but instructors may decide
to modify it, translate it, or fully design their own blog or site. Students are instructed
to visit the website “Global cities of the future: An interactive map” (McKinsey and
Company 2017), which displays a short introduction to future cities and emerging
urban clusters. They are prompted to answer questions about the future of cities
regarding largest number of children and elderly to the world’s population, top 25
cities by per capita GDP, and about how their regional patterns of growth will differ
(see Fig. 11).
218 J. Sanabria-Z and M. Romero

Fig. 11  Activity regarding global cities and their population. Adapted from Pexels (2015) by
J. Sanabria-Z, based on photos by RawPixel (left) and Kaique Rocha (right)

Fig. 12  Pictures representing the longitudinal transformation of cities are shown in random order
for students to match them. Adapted from Pexels (2015) by J. Sanabria-Z, based on a photo by
Aleksandar Pasaric

4.1.3  Linking

Pictures of different habitats that have drastically changed are presented randomly,
before and after current conditions. Participants are instructed to link the pictures
that correspond to the same location, expected to grasp the idea of transformation
(see Fig. 12).

4.1.4  Reusing

Pictures of buildings made of atypical materials are presented, surrounded by

images of these materials; participants have to drag images of the materials to their
rightful place. Through this activity, students realize the possibilities for building
using unexpected materials (see Fig. 13).
Emerging Scenarios to Enhance Creativity in Smart Cities Through STEAM Education… 219

Fig. 13  Images of buildings with atypical materials are shown for students to find the rightful
choice by dragging it to the main object. Adapted from Pexels (2015) by J. Sanabria-Z, based on a
photo by Karin S.

4.1.5  Completing

Three-dimensional (3D) modeling elements are shown on a design interface such as

SketchUp,1 so students can complete a semi-built structure or create one from
scratch. By accomplishing this task, students become familiar with 3D interfaces
(see Fig. 14).

4.2  Module II: Digital Creation of Habitat in the Smart City

According to the criteria produced and the learnings from the familiarization mod-
ule, students are instructed to create their own 3D elements using the SketchUp
software. They are also prompted to build their own proposal of a futuristic habitat
based on the activities of Module I (see Fig. 15). To reach this goal, they are advised
to follow these steps:
–– Develop a 2D blueprint of the proposal, emphasizing with arrows, illustrations,
and short texts, the functions and systems it will provide.
–– Transfer the 2D project to a 3D model using the SketchUp tools.
–– Generate an AR marker (level 2) using the 2D blueprint on paper, and anchor the
3D model to it using an AR tool, such as AumentatyCreator.2
–– Additionally, an audio that synthetizes the proposal main features may be
recorded.

1
 SketchUp is a 3D modeling computer program available as a free or a paid version, owned by
Trimble, Inc. [[Link]
2
 Aumentaty Creator is an augmented reality computer program available as free or paid version,
owned by AUMENTATY, S.L. [[Link]
220 J. Sanabria-Z and M. Romero

Fig. 14  Example interface for designing by removing blocks. Created by J. Sanabria-Z based on
Bartels (2017), using a photo from Pexels (2015) by Sharon McCutcheon

Fig. 15  Expectation of 2D proposals of habitat for the smart city. Adapted from Pexels (2015) by
J. Sanabria-Z, based on a photo by Lex Photography

4.3  M
 odule III: Exhibition of Augmented Reality Creations
for the Smart City

When the markers are generated, participants can exhibit their habitat proposals for
the smart city using the augmented reality tools described earlier. The setting should
be large enough to accommodate paper blueprints, anchored with 3D habitat
designs, which will be distributed around the space for viewing by the audience.
Emerging Scenarios to Enhance Creativity in Smart Cities Through STEAM Education… 221

Fig. 16  Expectation of a 3D smart city habitat model to be subsequently shown using AR. Created
by J.  Sanabria-Z with Tinkercad (Autodesk, 2019), based on a photo from Pexels (2015) by
Pixabay

The audience will be provided with tablets already activated with the software.
When pointing the camera to a marker, the anchored 3D model will appear on the
screens and the audio will start describing its features (see Fig. 16).
The evaluation of the experience can be collected from both the audience and
peers that designed the proposals. To accomplish this step, tablets may be provided
with an interactive scale that, after visiting a team’s exhibition, measures some
parameters related to the attributes of smart cities according to Caragliu et al. (2014)
study. The goal of the evaluation is to identify how well the proposal integrates
some of the attributes, toward a sustainable city that acknowledges community
participation.

4.4  E
 xpectations About Co-creation for Smart Cities Based
on GIM

Through the GIM, we anticipate helping students develop multiple competencies

urgently needed to thrive in twenty-first-century society and engage in the environ-
mental challenges the world is facing. Based on the experiences and examples in art
and sciences to illustrate the GIM application, the proposal for co-creating a futur-
istic habitat for the smart city aims at getting across to students the importance of
environmental care by integrating art-based dynamic activities. During the deploy-
ment of activities, an active creative process is expected, where participants collabo-
rate in the construction of projects, aware of their social and environmental influence.
222 J. Sanabria-Z and M. Romero

Dynamic websites, rendered videos, 3D models, and more, all resources are thought
to provoke a powerful perceptual appeal either by observing their aesthetic designs
for reflection or by directly interacting with them to achieve co-creation.
The modules of GIM, by emphasizing integrating visual stimuli, promote learn-
ing through the arts:
–– Module I brings students closer to authentic contexts by allowing them to observe
and then manipulate 3D elements.
–– Module II lets students simulate the experience of building real habitats by
anchoring 3D models in a physical environment.
–– Module III helps students to select appropriate virtual habitat proposals by inter-
acting with them using their senses (observing, touching, and listening).
Beyond discovering promising approaches to apply the GIM, the proposed rela-
tionship between attributes from a smart city and the five competencies will be
tested as a familiarization process highly contextualized. As a result of the project,
certain outcomes are expected to help characterize the correlation between attri-
butes and competencies toward integrating community participation and sustain-
ability in twenty-first-century smart cities:
–– Meaning of roles taken by the participants as well as their degree of
engagement
–– Threshold/limits of project development based on the available design tools
–– Deeper understanding of the significance of their projects to improve their
cities
–– Awareness of their contribution to the team habitat proposal during co-creation
–– Self-transformation throughout the learning experience of building for the future
–– Positive changes on self-confidence due to empowerment during collaborative
tasks
–– Comprehensive assimilation of technology potential for high-definition
prototyping
The two projects offered here as examples should reach a wide committed audience
to increase the possibilities of implementing them and renovating the habitat of
future cities and their surroundings.

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Jorge Sanabria-Z  holds a doctorate degree in Kansei Sciences

from the Advanced Research Centre in Neuroscience, Behaviour
and Qualia at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. He completed a
postdoctoral course at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico,
from which he has developed the Gradual Immersion Method, a
tech-based approach to promote creative cognition through col-
laboration. He is currently assistant research professor at the
University of Guadalajara, where he focuses on the development
of training methods and assessment of twenty-first-century skills
in digital fabrication and educational robotics environments.

Margarida Romero  is research director of the Laboratoire

d’Innovation et Numérique pour l’Éducation (#fabLINE), a
research lab in the field of Technology-­Enhanced Learning (TEL).
She is also a professor at Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis
(FR) and assistant professor at Université Laval (CA). Her
research is oriented toward the inclusive, humanistic, and creative
uses of technologies (co-­design, game design, and robotics) for
the development of creativity, problem-­ solving, collaboration,
and computational thinking.
Applying Gradual Immersion Method
to Chemistry: Identification of Chemical
Bonds

Guillermo Pech, Jorge Sanabria-Z, and Margarida Romero

1  Typical Issues on Teaching Chemistry

As with other Science subjects, Chemistry deals with some concepts that are impos-
sible to see by the naked eye, or even difficult to imagine. Principles behind atoms
and molecules, which are constituents of the products, materials, and organisms
around us, belong to a plane called “microscopic” (and also nanoscopic). For their
understanding, teachers often must resort to detailed explanation involving abstract
ideas represented by models, symbols, and mathematical formulas that run counter
to the daily sensory experience (Kind 2004). This traditional approach can generate
erroneous ideas in the learner, bearing little relation to reality and stepping away
from the scientific way or learning. By not generating meaning or capturing student
interest, this approach can imbue students with the impression that Science is a very
difficult disciplinary area, with very little application (Pech et al. 2015; Galagovsky
2007; Acevedo 2004; Gómez and Kent 2004; Furio et al. 2001).
In Mexico, Chamizo et al. (2004) found that by the end of K–12, most of the
students did not understand basic concepts of Chemistry. Rather, they accomplished
this only after concluding an undergraduate major in Chemistry. This example

G. Pech (*)
Technical Middle High School 157, Secretariat of Public Education, Guadalajara, Mexico
e-mail: guillermo-pech@[Link]
J. Sanabria-Z
Innovation Generation and Management Program, University of Guadalajara,
Guadalajara, Mexico
e-mail: sanabria@[Link]
M. Romero
Laboratoire d’Innovation et Numérique pour l’Éducation, Université de Nice Sophia
Antipolis, Nice, France
e-mail: [Link]@[Link]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 225

A. J. Stewart et al. (eds.), Converting STEM into STEAM Programs,
Environmental Discourses in Science Education 5,
[Link]
226 G. Pech et al.

offers a reason for proposing alternatives for better ways to illustrate microscopic
principles proposed in the classroom, which could allow students to better connect
their learning to the everyday environment, making learning more durable. Some of
the learning objectives in these abstract areas center on the interaction of particles:
states of aggregation of matter, the corpuscular nature of matter, differences between
elements, compounds and mixtures, chemical bonds, processes and chemical reac-
tions, acids and bases, stoichiometry and mole concept, and thermodynamics (Kind
2004).
In basic education (i.e., elementary and middle  high school), the first formal
experience with chemical language in Mexico occurs during the last year of mid-
dle  high  school education. At this level, competency-based training is proposed,
aimed at basic scientific training. In the discipline of Chemistry, the objective, in
this case, is to have students understand natural phenomena and processes from the
scientific perspective. The concept of chemical bonds helps transition student
understanding from the world of atoms to the formation of the chemical compounds
represented in chemical reactions that occur in the environment. Chemistry teachers
are generally in accord with the idea that students have difficulty in understanding
these concepts.

2  Augmented Reality and Educational Possibilities

Augmented reality (AR) is a recent technology that is considered useful for teach-
ing chemistry. AR is a system (or technique) that allows teachers to integrate digital
elements, such as audio or 3D models, into the physical environment by superim-
posing them, and thus “enrich reality,” assisted by several interactive technologies
(Sanabria 2017; Prendes 2015; Azuma 1997). The combination of digital informa-
tion and information in real time can serve different purposes, including education
(Cabero and Barroso 2016). In particular, AR can highlight the following aspects of
teaching:
(a) Enabling learning content in 3D perspectives
(b) Ubiquitous, collaborative, and situated learning
(c) Presence, immediacy, and immersion by students
(d) Visualizing concepts not visible by the senses
(e) Reducing formal and informal learning
We highlight the use of AR for understanding complex phenomena and concepts,
for it allows a phenomenon or object to be decomposed into its different phases or
parts and observed from different points of view (García et al. 2010, in Cabero and
Barroso 2016).
As applied in the area of chemistry, AR can allow students to bring to the real
world those concepts of the microscopic world that are not observable by the human
eye. It does this by linking concept to the authentic environment so as to illustrate
the principles that govern the everyday environment. AR also promotes the develop-
Applying Gradual Immersion Method to Chemistry: Identification of Chemical Bonds 227

ment of spaces in which the student can interact with the unobservable universe,
thus generating significant learning experiences.
However, to adequately implement AR in educational environments, teachers
must introduce users to the system based on their intuitive abilities for digital envi-
ronments. A means for such incorporation is proposed by Sanabria (2015). With the
Gradual Immersion Method (GIM), students use interactive devices for collabora-
tive learning, supported by AR. The GIM approach promotes creativity and learning
through intuitive interfaces.

3  The Gradual Immersion Method

The GIM considers two leaning aspects: It (1) aims to deepen the appropriation of
knowledge through interactive tasks related to a particular topic; and (2) allows the
spatial transition from 2D to 3D, and then to AR. The GIM has been designed for
interactive activities involving teams of four to five students. This number promotes
a “progressive familiarization” (Sanabria 2017) for constructing and exhibiting in
AR, achieved through a sequence of three modules (Fig. 1).
In one application of the GIM, high school students created surrealist expres-
sions in the context of a museum, resulting in intuitive learning and the development
of creativity oriented to works of art in a nonformal context (Sanabria et al. 2015).
Experience of this sort leaves a window open for other disciplines of a formal con-
text, such as school sciences, so that the participants, in addition to learning in sci-
entific areas, may develop competences such as collaboration and creativity, which
are essential for resolving the new challenges of the twenty-first century (SEP
2016).
In another application, the GIM was used in a lower-level high school module.
This project was designed according to the science curriculum of Chemistry in
lower-level high school (SEP 2013). Twenty-eight students between 14 and 16 years
of age participated in the project. The students completed a diagnostic questionnaire

Fig. 1  The three GIM modules. (Reprinted from Sanabria, J. (2015). The Gradual Immersion
Method (GIM): Pedagogical Transformation into Mixed Reality. Procedia Computer Science)
228 G. Pech et al.

I. Familiarization II. Digital Creation III. Exhibition

Discernment: Proposed topics to Presented AR routes to

Identified elements such as contextualize chemistry. peers for feedback.
metals. Used AR for rating.

Identification: Developed own geolocated

Identified chemical bounds. AR route.
Showed 3D molecules (AR)

Exploration:
Contextualized chemistry
using geolocated AR.

Fig. 2  Modules of the GIM applied in a chemical bond project. (Elaborated by Jorge Sanabria-Z
and Guillermo Pech)

on their knowledge of the concept of molecules, bonds, atoms, models, and chemi-
cal bonds. Results showed that 85.7% of the students did not have much in-depth
understanding about chemical bonds, their types, or other related ideas such as mol-
ecules, or where chemical bonds occurred. These deficiencies justified applying the
GIM, to determine if the deficiencies could be overcome.
The instructor adapted the three GIM modules before starting the experiment, as
follows: For Module I, a Learning Object with 3 activities aimed at introducing
students to the world of chemical bonds; for Module II, the students were asked to
co-create their own versions of atoms, bonds, and molecules, with  AR; and for
Module III, the students shared their experiences to obtain feedback. Figure 2 shows
the steps taken to implement this GIM, in which we sought to transition from the 2D
representations to the 3D of the molecular world while seeking for a transition
through different types of AR.

3.1  Module I: Becoming Familiar with Chemical Bonds

We first presented a learning objective on the subject of chemical bonds. This objec-
tive was comprised of three activities in sequence. In the first activity, we used the
Plickers® AR tool. This tool allows the accumulation of responses from participants
in real time. The second activity was supported by the AR tool Aumentaty®. This
tool simulated 3D views of chemical bonds. The third activity combined two
AR tools – GeoAumentaty® and Aurasma® – to create a geolocated route for dis-
playing 3D digital elements anchored in the physical environment. The three activi-
ties were discernment, identification, and exploration. The processes used to support
these objectives are described below:
Applying Gradual Immersion Method to Chemistry: Identification of Chemical Bonds 229

• Discernment: Students were asked to discriminate among metallic and nonme-

tallic elements, based on information in the periodic table. Supported by the
technology of AR type 0 (quick response “QR”-type markers), students com-
pleted an activity in which questions were projected that gradually showed 2, 3,
and 4 multiple-choice answers – these prospective answers were accumulated by
the teacher through the camera on a mobile device.
The experiment used Plickers® online software; the teams registered on this plat-
form and entered the questions and their answers there. Next, we distributed paper
markers to the participants for anonymous responses. Upon reviewing each project
question, the participants showed to the mobile camera the side of the marker with
the answer option they considered correct, which was registered by the software
(see Fig. 3).
• Identification: Students needed to identify the type of chemical structure in a 3D
chemical bond. The challenge-type activity used the Aumentaty® program, an
augmented reality level 1 tool. This tool allowed the 3D digital elements to be
embedded in markers. The teams contained three to five students, to whom we
distributed paper cards with markers and a series of questions, such as the fol-
lowing: What is this element? What is its 3D structure according to Lewis? What
must happen to make it stable? When the questions had been answered, a repre-
sentative for each team took turns to show one of the cards to the camera, reveal-
ing the 3D bond of the electronic configuration of an element and its Lewis
representation. This method helped elicit group discussion about the teams’
adequacy of response to the question (Fig. 4).
• The Aumentaty platform allowed us to upload comments in a “digital chat”
mode. The activities allowed the students to reflect on, and discover in some

Fig. 3  AR marker (left) and projected screen, showing the percentages of responses to questions
(right) on the Plickers® platform. (Elaborated by Guillermo Pech)
230 G. Pech et al.

Fig. 4  A 3D representation of a chemical bond anchored to an augmented reality marker in

Aumentaty®

detail, how to identify structure of ionic and covalent bonds. At the end of the
reflection and general conclusion session, the students prepared and presented a
portfolio of their activities.
• Exploration: To contextualize learning, we introduced the students to an explora-
tion route inside the school facilities, where they could find 3D chemical bonds
with using mobile devices equipped with AR.
To do this, the students first observed a video to learn the procedure for the
desired activity. They then were assigned a mobile device (one per team) and given
a series of questions which they had to answer during the activity. They were then
invited to go outdoors, within the schoolyard, to locate six points where they could
find AR markers. When the markers were activated on their mobile device’s camera,
the markers showed 3D elements representing different relationships of molecules:
chemistry in water, paint, metal items, chemistry in plants, plastic in products, and
cola drinks. These types of substances were selected because students were familiar
with them in their usual environment. The points to visit were shown on the inter-
face of the mobile device, and these points were geolocated through the AR tool,
GeoAumentaty® (Fig. 5).
When they arrived at one of the strategic points, the students had to activate the
Aurasma® AR tool, which would allow them to observe the simulated chemical
bonds and the chemical 3D structures overlapping with the physical environment.
These structures retained CPK colors, according to chemistry language (Fig. 6).
When the students identified if the bonds were ionic or covalent, they interacted
through the GeoAumentaty® page to indicate their responses until completing all of
the points comprising the route.
Applying Gradual Immersion Method to Chemistry: Identification of Chemical Bonds 231

Fig. 5  Interface of the

path of chemical bonds in
GeoAumentaty® AR tool.
(Elaborated by Guillermo
Pech)

Fig. 6  3D chemical bonds in a metal handrail (left) and in cola beverages (right) using the
Aurasma® AR tool in a mobile device. (Elaborated by Guillermo Pech)

3.2  Module II: Creating Contextualized Chemical Bonds

After becoming familiar with different contextualized chemical bonds in Module I,

and to relate other chemical compounds around, the students co-created their own
geolocated route using GeoAumentaty®. Similar to the activity that was done with
232 G. Pech et al.

Fig. 7  3D digital chemical

bond of a wall’s surface as
seen through a mobile’s
device camera in Aurasma®
AR tool. (Elaborated by
Guillermo Pech)

Aurasma®, the different points of the route should show the chemical bonds that
belong to the different components of the landscape and space. The theme was free,
and teams (comprised of up to four students) researched and prepared original route
proposals such as “The path of life,” which included a water molecule, components
of the atmosphere, the structure of a tree, and the compounds for life in animals, or
“miscellaneous,” which accumulated objects made of materials such as cellulose
derived from cardboard and cotton, compounds in the stars and the components of
plastic (Fig. 7).

3.3  Module III: Displaying Chemical Bond Routes

When the proposals had been co-created, the students met in the classroom to pres-
ent, to their peers, information on the places they visited and the molecules they
found. Each team obtained feedback on their findings during this phase of the proj-
ect. Their discoveries were uploaded to the GeoAumentaty forum provided by the
software. The uploaded information included descriptions of each team’s respective
journey and statements about how the team members became aware of the diffusion
of science. The uploaded information could then be consulted later, by the partici-
pants themselves and by future generations of students at the school (Fig. 8).

4  Learnings from the Co-creative Experience

Some twenty-first-century competencies were evaluated in this project using the

CoCreaTIC tool (Lepage and Romero 2017). Components considered as strongly
present by the students included those related to computational thinking, creativity,
and collaboration. Below, we provide a general analysis of that process.
Applying Gradual Immersion Method to Chemistry: Identification of Chemical Bonds 233

Fig. 8  Information presented about one of the points of interest in “The path of life” and associ-
ated compounds in GeoAumentaty®. (Elaborated by Guillermo Pech)

5  Creativity Competency

In particular, we measured creativity by using the “generation/creation” and “atti-

tudes associated with creativity” components, which, in turn, were divided into sub-
components named “generation of ideas,” “brainstorming,” “divergent exploration,”
and “creative orientation toward the world (“creattitude”).” In the latter category,
the observables proposed were “We generate ideas together (as a team)” and “We
think of ideas to apply to our surroundings.”
We found that 60% of the participating students became aware of the collabora-
tive generation of ideas within the GIM activities and 55% of the participating stu-
dents thought about possible alternative applications after learning to use the
technologies. Survey results showed that the provided challenges incited the stu-
dents to co-creativity and promoted reflection on the possible application of the AR
tools in other subjects of STEAM. Further, targeted learning about chemical bonds
appeared effective through the GIM process.

6  Collaboration Competency

For the collaboration competency of the CoCreaTIC instrument, the components

“Establish and maintain a knowledge and a shared organization” and “(Co)-
construction of knowledge and/or artifacts” were chosen. The subcomponents of the
234 G. Pech et al.

same name remained as “We organized the activities within the work teams” and
“We assembled the solution as a team.”
Sixty-five percent of the participants considered that the organization and resolu-
tion of the activities by teams were carried out collaboratively. The subcomponents
were most frequently identified by the students as they developed activities with the
AR tools.

7  Computational-Thinking Competency

The components of “Modeling” and the “Attitudes associated with computational

thinking” were considered, since they are the most evident due to the nature of the
activities carried out, the manipulation of the tools of  AR, and the content. The
subcomponents chosen were “Became aware of the importance of planning a solu-
tion before creating it” and “Orientated to quality,” respectively. The sentences were
“we considered it important to have an action plan before creating a solution” and
“we wanted to make the best product or solution possible.”
Fifty percent of the participants considered the action plan to be very important,
and 40% scored it as present. Additionally, 75% of the participants considered very
present the idea of making the best product or solution possible during the activities
with AR.  This subcomponent of the twenty-first-century skills was chosen most
often by the students.

8  Learning of Chemical Bonds

During the three GIM modules, conventional and nonconventional assessment

instruments were applied, divided into diagnostic, formative, and summative assess-
ments. Three criterion reference tests of conventional type (CRT) were applied
(Dick and Carey 2001), named as diagnostic, intermediate, and final tests (see
Fig. 9).

Assessment
Instruments

Diagnostic Formative Sumative

Assessment Assessment Assessment

Diagnostic Anecdotal Portfolio of AR Intermediate Final

Test Notes Evidences Construction Test Test

Fig. 9  Types of assessment instruments applied to the chemical bond experience

Applying Gradual Immersion Method to Chemistry: Identification of Chemical Bonds 235

Fig. 10  Activities included in the portfolio of evidences of GIM’s Module I, prepared by the stu-
dents. (Elaborated by Guillermo Pech)

Before Module I, “Becoming Familiar with Chemical Bonds,” students com-

pleted a diagnostic test on their knowledge of the concept of molecules, bonds,
atoms, models, and chemical bonds. Results showed that 85.7% of the students did
not have much in-depth understanding about chemical bonds, their types, or other
related ideas such as molecules, or where chemical bonds occurred.
During the development of Module I, when AR activities were evaluated, stu-
dents registered their constructions by writing a portfolio of evidences (see Fig. 10).
They were requested to determine the bond structure for some chemical elements,
including the type of bond. The portfolio showed the structures forming the links for
various molecules. In the same way, the students registered their learning progress
by writing anecdotal phrases such as “Today I learn that” or “To improve I need to.”
236 G. Pech et al.

After the three GIM modules, students completed an intermediate test. This test
had two sections related to the expected learning goals proposed in the module,
which are explained as follows.
The first section recovered students’ ideas about particles and interactions in
chemical bonds, through items (Dick and Carey 2001) considering:
(a) Characteristics of the chemical bond
(b) Elements in the ionic and covalent bond
(c) Examples of ionic and covalent bonds
(d) Properties of ionic and covalent bonds
In a second section, a list with 6 three-dimensional representations of molecules
was provided for the use of the octet rule principles and the Lewis structure in the
chemical bond design, according to their experience with AR.  It also included a
question about uses of ionic or covalent molecules in the context of daily life
(Fig. 11).

Fig. 11  Section 2 of the CRT for chemical bond assessment. (Elaborated by Guillermo Pech)
Applying Gradual Immersion Method to Chemistry: Identification of Chemical Bonds 237

As a result of the intermediate test, 96.6% of the students demonstrated mastery

related to chemical bonds when describing their characteristics and identifying the
ionic and covalent compounds in their evaluation of learning.
To verify the permanence of the learning, students completed a final test at the
end of the course, 4 months after the intermediate test. The final test included items
similar to those in the first test, with three-dimensional representations (spherical
structures) of compounds in which the student had to identify the type of bond
(ionic or covalent) and represent it using Lewis structures for the compounds.
Results from the final test showed that 92.3% of the course participants retained the
information, demonstrating durability in learning about the chemical bonds by iden-
tifying ionic and covalent compounds and their corresponding Lewis structures.

9  User Experience and Recommendations

In reference to the perception of the subject as an abstract science, 72.7% of the

participants changed their way of viewing the subject: They considered it as more
interesting. These findings registered in experience and user evaluations.
Students taking the course commented that the tools allowed a clearer visualiza-
tion of the molecules and how things are from the inside (i.e., of what they were
composed). Now they consider the use of the mobile device to learn and the use of
new augmented reality tools for use in their other science classes. They also men-
tion that it was a different way of working and that they would like to have other
activities of this type, such as chemical reactions and mixtures, and also apply them
to other subjects such as history, biology, and physics.
As key ideas, the activities were different from those considered conventional.
They also were illustrative and converted the students from a passive role to an
active one in the learning process.

10  Conclusions

The Gradual Immersion Model may serve as an example for developing STEAM
approaches, mainly for science teachers but for other areas as well. In this initial
approach for using augmented reality tools to teach chemistry at lower-level high
school with GIM, we found that the instructional design and tools greatly benefited
student learning, compared to students who did not use these tools. We also found
that the tools augmented computational thinking, creativity, and collaboration, even
as they helped the students learn about chemical bonds. The strategy we propose, of
applying GIM with AR tools, fosters an innovative learning experience which
arouses student interest and facilitates their learning process, according to the stu-
dents’ own opinions.
238 G. Pech et al.

11  Future Plans

Among future projects, in addition to improving the tools based on the experience
and the participants’ opinions, we anticipate validating the registration and evalua-
tion instruments, such that they can be shared with other educational centers and
investigators. We also expect to translate these instruments, making them more
available to others internationally.
We hope that our proposal for using GIM will encourage its development for use
by science teachers and teachers in other discipline areas, such as History,
Mathematics, Computing, Spanish, Physics, and Biology.

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Guillermo Pech  has a Master’s degree in Learning Technologies

from the University of Guadalajara and chemist for Autonomous
University of Yucatán and Science and Technologies teacher in
middle high school at Jalisco. He works in instructional design for
STEAM activities that involve augmented reality and robotic and
digital fabrication strategies for creating scientific vocations and
twenty-­
­ first-­
century skills development. He collaborates with
Drs. Sanabria and Romero on various teacher and student training
programs.

Jorge Sanabria-Z  holds a doctorate degree in Kansei Sciences

from the Advanced Research Centre in Neuroscience, Behaviour
and Qualia at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. He completed a
postdoctoral course at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico,
from which he has developed the Gradual Immersion Method, a
tech-based approach to promote creative cognition through col-
laboration. He is currently assistant research professor at the
University of Guadalajara, where he focuses on the development
of training methods and assessment of twenty-first-century skills
in digital fabrication and educational robotics environments.

Margarida Romero  is research director of the Laboratoire

d’Innovation et Numérique pour l’Éducation (#fabLINE), a
research lab in the field of Technology-­Enhanced Learning (TEL).
She is a professor at Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis (FR) and
assistant professor at Université Laval (CA). Her research is ori-
ented toward the inclusive, humanistic, and creative uses of tech-
nologies (co-design, game design, and robotics) for the
development of creativity, problem-solving, ­collaboration, and
computational thinking.
From Conceptualization
to Implementation: STEAM Education
in Korea

Sophia (Sun Kyung) Jeong, Hyoungbum Kim, and Deborah J. Tippins

1  Introduction

In many developed countries, a presumed goal of STEM (Science, Technology,

Engineering, and Mathematics) education is to develop excellent science and tech-
nology talents and secure economic competitiveness in an increasingly market-­
driven global economy. Building upon the past two decades of STEM education
reform efforts, Sanders (2009) argues that integrative STEM education focuses on
integrating the four disciplines in science, technology, engineering, and mathemat-
ics and on new integrative approaches that explore teaching and learning between
and among any two or more of the STEM subject areas. Engineering design-based
learning can be an effective pedagogical approach for effectively teaching crosscut-
ting concepts across these four content areas, and some investigators argue that “the
flavor of integrative STEM education resonates in several of the engineering accred-
itation standards that grew out of the engineering education reform efforts” (Sanders
2009, p. 23). Further, STEM education emphasizes that it is critically important to
foster opportunities to increase problem-solving skills, especially in light of devel-
oping economic competitiveness (Maes 2010).
The current framework of integrative STEM was extended to include the arts.
MEST (2011) conceptualized STEAM education in which the arts were grafted
onto the integrative STEM and implemented STEAM at the elementary and second-
ary level in Korea (Kim and Chae 2016) to meet the needs of educational reforms in
science and mathematics education. These needs were identified in two ­international
reports: (1) Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and
(2) the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). TIMSS measures

S. (Sun Kyung) Jeong · H. Kim (*) · D. J. Tippins

Department of Earth Science Education, Chungbuk National University,
Cheongju, Chungbuk, South Korea
e-mail: sj33678@[Link]; hyoungbum21@[Link]; dtippins@[Link]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 241

A. J. Stewart et al. (eds.), Converting STEM into STEAM Programs,
Environmental Discourses in Science Education 5,
[Link]
242 S. (Sun Kyung) Jeong et al.

the mathematics and science achievements of students in grades 4 and 8. In 2011,

42 countries participated in TIMSS, and students of Korea ranked among the high-
est in the world. For example, the achievements in science and mathematics for the
fourth grade and eighth grade students in Korea ranked among the highest, and
academic achievements of the seventh grade students in Korea ranked third overall
for science and first overall for mathematics. However, the 2011 TIMSS result
reported that Korean students’ interests in science were very low: 11%, compared
with the international mean of 35% (Martin et al. 2012; Mullis et al. 2012). The
magnitude of this discrepancy highlighted the need for educational reforms to pro-
mote Korean students’ interests and self-confidence in science and mathematics.
Supporting the findings from TIMSS, Korean students tend to perceive science and
mathematics as difficult subjects, with students having little to no interests due to
the less-than-positive association with the college entrance examination (MEST
2011). Further, a survey found that, coupled with negative attitude or perception
toward careers in engineering, the level of awareness about possible future career
choices in science and engineering was lacking among the elementary school stu-
dents in Korea (Lee and Park 2010; MEST 2012a, b).
Many education experts in Korea attribute a widely pervasive teaching method,
which focuses on rote memorization and content delivery by lecture, as a contribut-
ing factor for the observed trends in the lack of interests in STEM. In general, even
though students exhibit high levels of academic achievements in science and math-
ematics, they may not concurrently have high interests and self-efficacy in science
and mathematics (KOFAC 2012). STEAM education began being promoted in
Korea as a way to foster students’ interests and self-efficacy in science and mathe-
matics and to improve and enhance their academic achievements, creativity, and
problem-solving skills.

2  Overview and Specific Directions of STEAM in Korea

Georgette Yakman is attributed to have first proposed the term STEAM, as her work
on the STEAM pyramid. Here, Yakman expanded the concept of STEM to promote
interdisciplinarity by emphasizing that science and technology can be interpreted
through engineering and the arts, which are based in the elements of mathematics
(Yakman 2008). The STEAM pyramid aims to propose a framework for teaching
across the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and the arts where by
science and technology are interpreted through engineering and the arts; all four
disciplines are based in mathematical elements. The STEAM pyramid is divided
into five levels. The first and the lowest level is content specific to each of the four
disciplines. For example, science content includes the history and nature of science,
concepts and processes in science, inquiry, physics, biology, chemistry subjects as
well as geosciences and biochemistry, etc. (see [Link]). The first
From Conceptualization to Implementation: STEAM Education in Korea 243

level elaborates similar details for the other disciplines in technology, engineering,
mathematics, and the arts. The second level above the first level are silos divided
based on the four disciplines. The third level is where STEM and the arts are distin-
guished into two areas. On the fourth level is where STEM and the arts become
STEAM.  The fifth and the top level indicates lifelong, holistic learning. In the
STEAM pyramid, as one moves vertically from a lower level to a higher level,
toward lifelong, holistic education, each of the specialized subject areas gradually
become integrated and achieve a holistic education (Yakman 2008).
In the current rhetoric of facing the new changes and challenges of the twenty-­
first century and developing economic competitiveness in the global economy, there
is an increasing demand for nurturing creativity and affect, while pushing the
boundaries of academic disciplines toward more integrative and holistic learning
(Cho and Kim 2017). Consistent with these new educational goals, STEAM educa-
tion can be conceptualized as the new educational paradigm that emerged from the
need to respond to these changes (Yakman 2008). That is, some educators propose
that STEAM education effectively fosters critical thinking abilities and nurtures
affective domains such as emotions (KOFAC 2012). As such, one goal of STEAM
education in Korea is to foster students’ genuine curiosity toward the sciences, such
that they not only KOFAC 2015learn to define and solve new problems, but also
develop superior knowledge in science and technology (KOFAC 2012).
Similarly, MEST (2011) defines an aim of STEAM education to elevate stu-
dents’ interest in and understanding of science and technology, as well as to culti-
vate their STEAM literacy, creative thinking, and problem-solving skills. To this
end, STEAM curriculum involves restructuring how science, technology, engineer-
ing, and mathematics are taught, at the elementary and secondary levels, so as to
highlight ideas that crosscut the four subject areas while grafting humanities and the
arts onto the integrative STEM education framework (MEST 2011). For example,
Kim and Chae (2016) developed a STEAM program which incorporated different
aspects of traditional Korean culture into the school curriculum. These aspects
included hanji (Korean traditional paper) in the third and fourth grades, Korean
foods in the fifth and sixth grades, hanok (Korean traditional house) in middle
school, and danso (Korean traditional musical instrument) in high school. This
STEAM program was based on the theme of Korean traditions and helped students
learn about, and explore, the principles of Korean traditional cultures. In this pro-
gram, students developed an understanding of scientific, engineering, and technol-
ogy principles as they learned about their ancestors’ cultural heritage, and they
advanced their creativity and tapped into their emotions by exploring the artistic
beauty of Korean cultures.
With the aforementioned goals of STEAM, the Korean government announced
that STEAM education would be enforced in all elementary and secondary schools
as part of the 2009 national revised curriculum (MEST 2011, 2012a, b). STEAM
education is now widely promoted in Korea and various aspects of STEAM are
being investigated.
244 S. (Sun Kyung) Jeong et al.

3  STEAM, Creative Design, and Problem-Based Learning

Through contextualizing problems relevant to real life, students can develop genu-
ine interests in and understanding of the sciences, as they cultivate problem-solving
skills (KOFAC 2015). STEAM education builds upon the principles of science and
mathematics in order to develop students’ problem-solving skills as they learn to
apply the concepts of engineering and technology, which are grounded in creative
design (KOFAC 2015; Yakman 2008).
While STEM disciplines have generally been dealt with separately, integrative
STEM/STEAM education developed from the need to face new and complex prob-
lems that are becoming harder to define and which cannot be easily solved by apply-
ing one specific discipline (MEST 2012a, b). Further, students will likely to
encounter new challenges whose nature of the problem may look drastically differ-
ent from the challenges we know today (MEST 2012a, b). Thus, integrative knowl-
edge of the different disciplines is becoming increasingly important.
Creative design, based in elements of engineering and technology, is critically
important in STEAM. A STEAM lesson during which students have opportunities to
engage in creative design-based learning can enhance students’ problem-solving
abilities (KOFAC 2015). Generally speaking, the discipline in the sciences asks the
question why. For example, some “why” questions could be “Why does the wind
blow?” or “Why do rainbows form?” Similarly, science largely explores causal rela-
tionships. As such, the types of questions that deal with natural phenomena are likely
to belong to the category of the sciences (KOFAC 2015). On the other hand, engi-
neering represents a process through which “how-type” questions are answered (i.e.,
questions that require problem-solving skills). For example, a “how” question could
be “How can I make an environmentally friendly automobile?” or “How can I build
a house with high thermal efficiency?” (KOFAC 2015). Given that creative design
involves a comprehensive process by which engineering concepts are applied to
effectively solve a problem, engineering could be considered to be at the forefront of
STEAM education (KOFAC 2015). Similarly, Sanders (2009) stated that there could
be no STEM or STEAM without the T and E, emphasizing the critical importance of
technology and engineering in integrative STEM or STEAM education. Therefore,
an effective STEAM lesson grounded in creative design would help students not
only learn scientific principles, but also how to apply engineering and technology
principles with greater self-efficacy, self-motivation, and creativity (KOFAC 2015).

4  T
 he Importance of the Arts in STEAM: “Emotional
Touch” in Problem Solving

In general, the arts refer to the disciplines of literature and visual arts, which can
facilitate an expression of creativity. In the context of STEAM in Korea, the defini-
tion of the arts extends to include communications and humanities, in order to foster
From Conceptualization to Implementation: STEAM Education in Korea 245

“emotional touch” as part of students’ learning experience (MEST 2012a, b).

Science education experts in Korea propose that emotional touch is an essential ele-
ment of a successful problem-solving skill (KOFAC 2015). In some ways, the con-
cept of emotional touch is similar to the concept of affective domain. However, the
difference lies in that emotional touch is student centered, rather than teacher cen-
tered (KOFAC 2015). Park et al. (2016) refer to emotional touch as “experiences
that enable a positive cycle of self-directed learning where students feel interest,
confidence, intellectual satisfaction and a sense of achievement, as they find motiva-
tion, passion, flow and personal meaning in learning” (p. 1742). In this definition,
positive attitude toward learning is fostered, including self-interest, motivation, and
desire, to further promote self-directed learning (KOFAC 2015).
Emotional touch arises from the presentation of a real world problem related to the learning
content, and the students who have undergone emotional touch come to examine whether
the problem leads to another situation in the real world, not just by recognizing the neces-
sity of learning. (KOFAC 2015)

Baek et al. (2011) define this process as a virtuous cycle during which a sense of
achievement increases and reinforces one’s interest and confidence toward learning
and vice versa. Moreover, an aspect of emotional touch includes not only the suc-
cess that a student may experience but also positive feedback of a teacher, which can
help encourage a student’s curiosity and desire to learn (KOFAC 2012). For exam-
ple, when students attempt to solve a problem that is contextualized in everyday life,
they can hone their problem-solving skills while they immerse themselves in the
process of defining the problem. They can uncover clues about the nature of the
problem, and then solve the problem through creative design (KOFAC 2015).
Consequently, Baek et al. (2011) posit that this virtuous cycle should be repeated so
that, upon experiencing success at solving a challenging problem, students’ inter-
ests in mathematics and science are enhanced, motivation is rewarded, and the stu-
dent develops a sense of achievement that reinforces positive feelings about their
success.

5  Theoretical Framework of STEAM in Korea

The fundamental components of the STEAM education framework in Korea include

contextualizing problems, creative design, and emotional touch. These three things
require integrative STEAM literacy and promote a self-directed learning experience
(Baek et al. 2011). Here, we adapted three design principles from the theoretical
framework of STEAM from the Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science
and Creativity (KOFAC). This framework can provide a guideline for practitioners
to design STEAM lessons or programs (Table 1).
Contextualizing a problem in a real-life situation is important because it provides
a rationale for problem-solving that may be meaningful and personal to students
(Lee 2013). Creative design (step 2, Table 1) begins when a student identifies a need
246 S. (Sun Kyung) Jeong et al.

Table 1  Adapted from the theoretical framework of STEAM in Korea adapted from KOFAC
(2012)
Steps Design principles Aims
1 Contextualization of a problem To provide a rationale for problem solving
in a real-life situation
2 Creative design To facilitate self-directed learning to define a problem
and find a solution
3 Emotional touch To foster students’ interest, motivation, and sense of
achievement through a successful problem-solving
experience

to solve a particular problem, and thus initiates the self-directed design work, which
seeks adequate solution to the problem (Baek et al. 2011; Yakman and Lee 2012).
Thus, creative design encourages an open-ended approach and provides the oppor-
tunity to reflect on their problem-solving strategy (KOFAC 2012). Particularly
grounded in the notion of “hands-on” or “hands-in” activities (i.e., active engage-
ment), design-based learning promotes communications, collaborations, and cre-
ativity (Baek et  al. 2011). Finally, emotional touch extends the existing affective
domain and engages students in hearts-on activities based on interests (KOFAC
2015). Therefore, emotional touch fosters a student’s interests in science learning
through immersion, heightened sense of achievement, and motivation (KOFAC
2015).
The theoretical framework of STEAM that includes contextualization, creative
design, and emotional touch can be implemented and adapted in various curriculum
models used in Korea such as (1) in-subject curriculum model, (2) across-subjects
curriculum model, or (3) creative experience activities model which requires the
restructuring of an existing model with a specialization area. The in-subject curricu-
lum model is similar to disciplinary core ideas in the Next Generation Science
Standards (NGSS 2013). Within a specific content area, the in-subject curriculum
model emphasizes core ideas that have broad importance within or across multiple
disciplines such as technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics. Across-­
subjects curriculum model is similar to crosscutting concepts in the NGSS in that,
given a concept, students explore the connections across different discipline
domains. Lastly, the creative experience activities model involves restructuring an
existing curriculum model with a specialization area or interest that can include but
is not limited to (1) an after-school program (e.g., a club activity), (2) an extracur-
ricular activity program, (3) a volunteer activity), or (4) career planning activity,
which are all associated with a specific educational goal. An existing curriculum
model can be restructured to integrate any of the four aforementioned specific
­interests (club, extracurricular, volunteering, and career-planning activities) and be
transformed into a new curriculum model (KOFAC 2015). Within the program of
interest, the creative experience activities model can be adapted to highlight its pro-
grams mission that may include creative thinking, experiential learning, a specific
career path planning, etc. (KOFAC 2015).
From Conceptualization to Implementation: STEAM Education in Korea 247

6  Previous Literature on STEAM in Korea

The number of research studies reporting on STEM or STEAM education in areas

such as its development, implementation, and content knowledge has increased sub-
stantially since 2010 (KOFAC 2015). For example, Baek et al. (2011) reported on
the development and directions of STEAM in light of the current trends and issues
of science education in Korea. Kim et al. (2012) defined core STEAM knowledge
and competency and proposed a theoretical framework that detailed the potential
development and implementation of STEAM education. Jeong and Kim (2015)
developed a STEAM program that used six structured inventive thinking strategies
to increase students’ interest in STEM, problem-solving skills, and STEM content
knowledge. More recently still, Jeong and Kim (2015) developed a STEAM pro-
gram and implemented it in the context of problem-based learning: This program
required students to participate in global climate change monitoring activities. The
effectiveness of the STEAM program developed in Jeong and Kim (2015)‘s study,
especially its success with girls, is described in a later section on promoting girls in
STEAM.
Other studies have investigated Korean teachers’ perceptions of STEAM.  For
example, Lee et al. (2012) analyzed the perception of STEAM education of elemen-
tary and secondary school teachers, based on self-reported survey responses from
251 school teachers who taught science, mathematics, and/or technology. The Lee
et al. (op. cit.) study reported that teachers perceived integrated STEAM education
to be highly efficient, not only in developing integrated problem-solving skills and
STEM-related literacy but also in positively impacting workforce by identifying
talents in the fields of science and technology.
Similarly, Shin and Han (2011) surveyed 93 elementary school teachers who
have taught mathematics and science in gifted classes. The survey involved a
15-item questionnaire designed to elicit teachers’ awareness of STEAM education.
The Shin and Han (op. cit.) qualitative study reported that after having participated
in STEAM educational activities, teachers’ awareness about the need of STEAM
education increased and that the teachers’ perceptions about STEAM education and
its impact on elementary education were positive.
In summary, these studies show a general trend that acknowledges the need for
integrative STEAM education in Korea. To enhance teachers’ understanding of
STEAM and its implementation in the classroom, science education experts are
now calling for educational reforms that promote professional development pro-
grams designed to increase teacher’s expertise about STEAM teaching.
Many studies report the effectiveness of STEAM program on increasing stu-
dents’ interest and self-efficacy toward STEAM disciplines. For example, Park and
Shin (2012) investigated and compared an intervention class of 30 students whose
science curricular unit on “Our Body” was implemented as a STEAM curriculum.
This unit was introduced during the second semester of the 5th grade, while the
comparison (control) class of 29 students was taught by implementing lecture-style
teaching. All students responded to questionnaires on several affective domains in
248 S. (Sun Kyung) Jeong et al.

science learning, such as self-efficacy and interest in and attitude toward science.
The Park and Shin (op. cit.) study reported that the science lesson on “Our Body” as
a STEAM curriculum positively influenced the elementary students’ self-efficacy
toward the science subject. Mean scores for the control group and the STEM-­
intervention group were similar at the start of the study (3.32 vs. 3.40, respectively;
p = 0.65), but the intervention effect was significant at the end of the study (3.30 for
the control group vs. 3.79 for the intervention group; p = 0.003). The students’ inter-
est in science, science learning, scientific activities, and pursuing science-related
jobs also increased in response to the STEAM intervention (by 19.3%, 20.7%,
12.0%, and 20.3%, respectively). All of these differences were statistically signifi-
cant (p < 0.05).
Lee and Kang (2014) developed a STEAM program that they implemented as an
after-school program with middle school students. In this study, they investigated
the program’s effects on improving students’ creative thinking and critical thinking
skills through inquiry. Their study reported that the intervention group demonstrated
substantial increases in the following areas: creative thinking skills, fluency, and
originality. The intervention group’s overall score was ~34.8, which was 34% higher
than the comparison group’s overall score of ~25.9 on critical thinking skills. The
difference between the comparison and intervention groups in this case was statisti-
cally significant.
Kim et al. (2013) developed a STEAM program based on four topic areas in high
school life sciences – circulation, plants, genetics, and stimulus and response. These
topic areas were integrated with technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics.
The Kim et al. (op. cit.) study reported that students’ confidence and interest in sci-
ence and values for science increased. The STEAM program also increased stu-
dents’ creativity and subcategory elements (fluency and originality) and
elaboration.
Kim and Chae (2016) developed a STEAM program based on Korean traditional
cultures and explored the program’s effectiveness in developing problem-solving
skills. After interviewing the participating students, this study reported that 42% of
the students recognized STEAM as “a process of solving a problem using conver-
gent thinking,” 34% thought it as “a knowledge reconstruction process through the
exchange of opinions,” and 24% perceived it as “a process of finding a solution on
their own” (Table 2).
Kim and Chae (op. cit.) concluded that students who participated in the STEAM
program recognized the importance of integrative knowledge in honing their
problem-­solving skills.

Table 2  Student’s awareness of the meaning of STEAM. (From Kim and Chae (2016))
Meaning of STEAM (N = 26)
A process of solving a problem using convergent thinking 42%
A knowledge reconstruction process through the exchange 34%
of opinions
A process of finding a solution on their own 24%
From Conceptualization to Implementation: STEAM Education in Korea 249

7  S
 TEAM Addresses the Limitations of Problem-Based
Learning

Problem-based learning (PBL) provides students with opportunities for authentic,

inquiry-based learning in which a real-world problem becomes the context for
investigating what they need to know and want to know (Checkly 1997). Gallagher
et al. (1995) defined three characteristics of PBL: (1) initiating learning with a prob-
lem, (2) using an ill-defined problem, and (3) having the teacher as a metacognitive
coach. In PBL, students are first presented with a problem, as it might actually
occur. There is rarely sufficient information to develop a solution to this problem
immediately, and no obvious single right strategy, so a need to redefine the problem
emerges as new information is presented (Yoon et al. 2011). Second, the problem is
ill defined. This characteristic, Gallagher et al. (1995) suggests, is how problems
generally present themselves in science and real life. Because the problem is unclear,
students need to identify what is known, what needs to be known, and how to find a
solution. The open-ended nature of the problem provides opportunity for many pos-
sible solutions (Kim et al. 2016). Finally, the teacher is simply a guide or a metacog-
nitive coach in the PBL approach: students have the primary responsibility of
determining what is learned and how learning happens. For this reason, PBL is a
constructive, self-directed learning process, during which the search for meaning
becomes a personal construction of the student (Yoon et al. 2011).
The PBL approach has four important limitations in terms of a broader applica-
tion. First, preparing a PBL lesson takes a significant amount of time (Simons et al.
2004). For example, Simons et al. (2004)’s study showed that the teacher for a PBL
effort expressed frustration at not having enough time to complete every activity and
was not completely satisfied with her students’ performance. Second, Ertmer and
Simons (2006) also reported on limitations teachers experienced when implement-
ing PBL, such as engaging their students and scaffolding their learning. Third,
another significant limitation reported in the study was simplifying the components
of the problem and content without making them superficial. Thus, Ertmer and
Simons (2006) call for more studies reporting on the “how to” for teachers inter-
ested in effectively implementing PBL in the K–12 classrooms. Lastly, in PBL, the
role of self-directed student is important. In general, students work in collaborative
groups and engage in self-directed learning efforts to apply their new knowledge to
solve the problem (Hmelo-Silver 2004).
Although PBL aims to help students develop flexible knowledge, effective
problem-­solving skills, self-directed learning skills, effective collaboration skills,
and intrinsic motivation, the level of mastery of these skills can vary greatly among
students within the given constraints of a classroom (Hmelo-Silver 2004). To this
end, the aforementioned proposed framework of STEAM education facilitates,
through three components, a self-directed learning process in which students enact
creative design and emotional touch and contextualize a problem in a real-life situ-
ation. First, the open-endedness nature of creative design allows students time to
reflect and encourages students to learn how to effectively communicate and col-
250 S. (Sun Kyung) Jeong et al.

laborate (Park et al. 2016). “The create design also includes a provision of educa-
tional opportunities for students to experience the entire self-directed process until
the final product of learning is applied in practice” (Park et  al. 2016, p.  1742).
Second, emotional touch addresses an aspect of education that is often overlooked,
and this aspect can help the learner develop personal meaning in learning. Thus,
Park et al. (2016) suggest that leveraging emotional touch that facilitates cognitive
and affective development be organically connected to the process of learning. And
third, students connect the contents of study to real life in a holistic manner. In sum-
mary, STEAM programs can be applied to any educational settings such as after-­
school program or information education and implemented to any curriculum
models such as in-subject or across-subjects models.
We summarize these points as follows: STEAM education in Korea goes beyond
the simple notion of integrating subject disciplines. At the core of STEAM educa-
tion in Korea is the leveraging of the benefits of a self-directed and creative learning,
while providing students the opportunity to solve problems in a manner that affords
students a sense of accomplishment and positive emotional experience including
encouragement and success. For these reasons, STEAM education continues to be
promoted in the educational context of Korea.

8  Promoting Female Students in STEM/STEAM

Female students in Korea indicated significantly lower preference than male stu-
dents for pursuing science and technology in terms of education and careers (MEST
2012a, b). This phenomenon could be due to institutionalized barriers that tend to
favor male engineers and scientists (Hyun 2015). According to Hyun (2015), female
students’ interests in science and technology, and their academic performance in
these related fields, are generally lower than their male counterparts. Therefore,
STEM in the United States, or the United Kingdom, as well as in Korea, aims to
enhance both female and male students’ interest and motivation in STEM content
areas. To this end, Hyun (2015) reported that implementing a STEAM program
improved female students’ interest and preference in science and technology, yield-
ing greater self-efficacy in science and technology among the female students.
Additionally, Jeong and Kim (2015) reported that STEAM education was effective
for both male and female students in enhancing their perceptions toward STEAM,
and most prominently for girls (Table 3).
Effect size in this case is a measure of the magnitude of changes in scores for
pre-to-post-intervention surveys of male and female students. For example, differ-
ences in the pre-to-post survey responses for the female students were about twice
as large as those for male students, for the survey topics dealing with perception of
science. STEAM content knowledge of both male and female students increased,
but the effect was much larger for female students. For example, female students
who participated in the global climate change (GCC) activities had pre-to-post gains
From Conceptualization to Implementation: STEAM Education in Korea 251

Table 3  Effect size of mean scores in STEAM perceptions (Jeong and Kim 2015)
Effect size of mean scores
Gender Science Technology Engineering The arts Mathematics
Male 0.28 0.06 0.16 0.13 0.32
Female 0.54 0.19 0.35 0.16 0.34

that were nearly twice as large as those of their male classmates, for perceptions of
science and engineering.
Jeong and Kim (2015)’s study demonstrated that female middle school students
who participated in the GCC monitoring activities had much greater pre-to-post
gains than their male counterparts, with respect to their perceptions of science and
engineering. Further, positive perceptions of STEAM content emerged among the
participants of the GCC activities. A comparison of the gain scores in STEAM per-
ceptions for female and male students showed that the female students’ perceptions
of STEAM rose dramatically and became more similar to those of males over the
course of the GCC activities. In short, STEAM education effect was more pro-
nounced for female students than for male students.

9  Effectiveness of STEAM

In 2013, the Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity
(KOFAC) conducted a questionnaire survey on the students from 23 elementary,
middle, and high schools to examine the effectiveness of STEAM education in
Korea. The schools identified in the survey included 9 leader schools, 19 schools
which were operating a school science teachers’ study group for STEAM, 3 schools
which implemented the smart class model for STEAM, and 1 science school
(KOFAC 2013). Among these schools, 16 classes were implementing STEAM pro-
grams and 15 classes were in the planning stages for STEAM implementation.
Nearly 1400 students were surveyed. The surveyed students included 502 elemen-
tary school students, 410 middle school students, and 461 high school students
(Table 4; KOFAC 2013). Also, each of the 6 survey items showed statistically sig-
nificant values (p < 0.05) and students who participated in STEAM programs indi-
cated greater preferences for science (Table 5; KOFAC 2013).
In terms of “self-driven learning ability,” students in STEAM programs reported
a higher proficiency (Table 6). Among the other six areas, the most notable survey
item was “cooperation capability,” which showed highest responses by students in
STEAM programs (KOFAC 2013). All of these differences were statistically sig-
nificant (p ≤ 0.02). These results can be attributed to the opportunities that students
in STEAM programs have for exchanging their ideas and establishing a harmoni-
ously functioning team through collaborative STEAM learning.
Students in STEAM programs developed greater problem-solving skills and
problem cognition (Table 7), compared to students in the general class (p = 0.000
and p = 0.003, respectively). This result can be attributed to opportunities for foster-
252 S. (Sun Kyung) Jeong et al.

Table 4  Demographic statistics of study participants (KOFAC 2013)

School General class (male/ STEAM class (male/ Total number of students
classification female) female) (male/female)
Elementary 237 (123/114) 265 (114/151) 502 (237/265)
school
Middle school 225 (137/88) 185 (66/119) 410 (203/207)
High school 211 (103/108) 250 (108/142) 461 (211/250)
Total 673 (363/310) 700 (288/412) 1373 (651/722)

Table 5  Preferences for science (KOFAC 2013)

Average (standard deviation)
Dimension Number of items General class STEAM class t(p)
Curiosity about science 3 3.40 (1.14) 3.58 (1.07) 3.39∗∗ (0.001)
Interest in learning 3 3.22 (1.19) 3.46 (1.14) 4.68∗∗ (0.000)
science
Inclusion of value on 3 3.85 (1.00) 3.98 (0.95) 3.04∗∗ (0.002)
science
Belief in science 3 3.53 (1.06) 3.73 (1.00) 4.16∗∗ (0.000)
Commitment to 3 3.06 (1.13) 3.36 (1.08) 6.00∗∗ (0.000)
scientific task
Choice of science- 3 2.80 (1.24) 3.08 (1.20) 4.61∗∗ (0.000)
related career
∗∗
p < 0.01, ∗p < 0.05

Table 6  Self-driven learning ability (KOFAC 2013)

Average (standard deviation)
Dimension Number of items General class STEAM class t(p)
Curiosity about 2 3.24 (1.05) 3.36 (1.00) 2.36∗∗ (0.018)
science
Interest in learning 3 3.18 (1.04) 3.39 (1.01) 4.50∗∗ (0.000)
science
Inclusion of value on 4 2.90 (1.06) 3.14 (1.04) 5.16∗∗ (0.000)
science
Belief in science 3 3.30 (1.01) 3.43 (0.98) 2.88∗∗ (0.004)

Commitment to 2 3.33 (1.05) 3.53 (1.00) 4.26∗∗ (0.000)

scientific task
Choice of science- 3 3.40 (1.04) 3.56 (1.02) 3.52∗∗ (0.000)
related career
∗∗
p < 0.01; ∗p < 0.05

ing students’ imagination and emotional touch: Through these routes, the students
can hone their scientific knowledge and creative-thinking skills (KOFAC 2015).
The results of other studies echo the findings of the KOFAC (2013)’s survey
results. Notably, Kim and Chae (2016) investigated the effectiveness of STEAM
implementation at the secondary level, where 26 high school students were inter-
From Conceptualization to Implementation: STEAM Education in Korea 253

Table 7  Creative and integrated thinking (KOFAC 2013)

Average (standard
deviation)
General STEAM
Dimension Evaluation class class t(p)
Problem Originality, applicability, 1.41 (1.12) 1.75 (0.936) 2.99∗∗
cognition validity (0.003)
Problem-solving 1.31 (1.19) 1.76 (1.01) 3.74∗∗
(0.000)
∗∗
p < 0.01, ∗p < 0.05

viewed to explore students’ awareness about STEAM in two categories: (1) the
meaning of STEAM and (2) the necessity of STEAM education (Kim and Chae
2016). First, echoing the results of Baek et al. (2011) and Maes (2010), students in
Kim and Chae (2016)’s study demonstrated their understanding of integrative
STEAM knowledge in order to be successful at problem-solving. Second, students
indicated that STEAM activities facilitated a procedural process, as defined by
Wheeler and Jones (2008), which helped students engage in the process of “knowl-
edge reorganization” through the mutual exchange of opinions and communica-
tions. Third, in the process of solving a problem, students indicated that their
imaginations and emotional touch helped them develop their scientific knowledge
and creativity as they engaged in STEAM learning. These results parallel those of
studies by Kang et  al. (2014), Min and Kang (2015), and Maes (2010), which
demonstrated that the arts facilitated students’ creativity and helped them cultivate
positive attitudes as well as scientific thinking and problem-solving skills in
STEAM.

10  Concluding Remarks About STEAM in Korea

In Korea, STEAM education is considered to be highly effective: STEAM programs

have demonstrably impacted important aspects of science learning, such as devel-
oping integrative STEAM knowledge, problem-solving skills, etc. Especially by
helping students become more successful at problem-solving, STEAM has played
an important role in fostering students’ emotional touch, promoting self-directed
learning, and facilitating collaborations and exchange of ideas through communica-
tions (KOFAC 2015).
STEAM education in Korea has implications for teachers elsewhere. Since intro-
ducing STEAM in Korea, Korean students’ interest and academic achievements in
the sciences and engineering have increased; moreover, the number of students
choosing to pursue their future careers in STEAM-related fields has been increasing
(Lee and Lee 2014; Jeong and Kim 2015; Kim and Chae 2016). Overall, based on
the research examining teachers’ perception of STEAM, science teachers in Korea
now are beginning to associate positive perceptions of STEAM with respect to the
254 S. (Sun Kyung) Jeong et al.

areas of helping students learn to communicate and develop integrative STEAM

knowledge and problem-solving skills.
Continued efforts should be made in Korea to effectively leverage the advantages
of STEAM education. Teachers will need to be committed to preparing and enact-
ing effective STEAM lessons in the classrooms, which will inevitably require sig-
nificant efforts. Further, to promote STEAM learning, it should be consistently
implemented early, starting with elementary school children, so their interests in
STEAM begin to develop. At present, STEAM education is being implemented at
the college level, and this implementation will inevitably require trial-and-error
adjustments. However, based on the positive results reported so far, STEAM educa-
tion in Korea will continue to establish a classroom culture, which fosters students’
genuine curiosity and develops their ability to successfully solve new problems that
they will face in the twenty-first century.

Acknowledgments  This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of
Korea, the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2017S1A5A8021812), and the Korea
Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity (KOFAC) grant, which was funded by
the Korean government (MOE) (2018EAA0002).

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Sophia (Sun Kyung) Jeong is a postdoctoral scholar in the

 

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the

University of Georgia. Her scholarly work draws on actor-net-
work theory to explore ontological complexities of gender and
race by examining socio-material relations in science
classrooms.

Hyounvgbum Kim obtained the B.A. degree in earth system sci-

 

ence from Yonsei University, Korea, the M.A. degree from the
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National
University, Korea, and the Ph.D. degree in earth science educa-
tion from Korea National University of Education, Korea. He had
worked as postdoctoral scholar at the Science Education Research
Institution of UQAM, Canada. He is currently an Assistant
Professor at the Earth Science Education Department, Chungbuk
National University, Korea. His research interests include science
curriculum, climate change education, and STEM education
(STEAM) in K–12 education.
From Conceptualization to Implementation: STEAM Education in Korea 257

Deborah J.  Tippins is currently a Professor in the Department

 

of Mathematics and Science Education at the University of Georgia.

Her scholarly work focuses on encouraging meaningful discourses
around environmental justice and sociocultural issues in science
education.
Emphasizing Transdisciplinary Prowess
in the Evaluation of STEAM Programs

Kimberle Kelly and Erin Burr

1  Introduction

In this chapter, we consider the critical role of transdisciplinary knowledge and

skills in the success of STEAM programs designed to increase the scientific and
technical workforce and promote a responsible citizenry. STEAM programs by
definition bridge disciplines. Thus, including the “arts” with science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics programs requires the development and evaluation of
both disciplinary and transdisciplinary knowledge and skills across diverse stake-
holder groups. After describing the crucial role of program evaluation in the success
and sustainability of STEAM programs, we use the “4 Cs” framework to describe
relevant constructs of “transdisciplinary prowess.” We then outline selected mea-
surement strategies and technological tools for evaluating communication, collabo-
ration, critical thinking, and creativity in STEAM programs as well as commenting
on the need for transdisciplinary prowess in evaluators.

2  Why Program Evaluation?

The emphasis on evidence-based decision-making is prevalent in American educa-

tion and government, and technological innovations have greatly expanded the
landscape of available evidence. Such evidence can come from a high-quality pro-
gram evaluation. As shown in Fig. 1, incorporating program evaluation before, dur-
ing, and after implementing a STEM or STEAM program provides a solid foundation
to support the design, development, implementation, effectiveness, dissemination,

K. Kelly (*) · E. Burr

Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
e-mail: [Link]@[Link]; [Link]@[Link]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 259

A. J. Stewart et al. (eds.), Converting STEM into STEAM Programs,
Environmental Discourses in Science Education 5,
[Link]
260 K. Kelly and E. Burr

• Long Term Impacts (outcomes expected 5-10 years after program participation)
• Measuring long-term outcomes (e.g., college major, degree attainment, employment)
• Assessing evaluation use and influence to increase program effectiveness.

• Summative Evaluation (focuses on measurement of outcomes)

• Summarizing data with appropriate qualitative and quantitative analytic techniques
• Comparing program outcomes to program goals and objectives
• Disseminating summative (outcome-based) findings to provide evidence of effectiveness

• Formative Evaluation (focuses on process) and Measurement of Baseline for Outcomes

• Conducting data collection activities to acquire data on fidelity of program implementation,
outputs, and baseline measurement of outcomes
• Disseminating formative (process-based) findings to promote continuous improvement

• Program Development and Determining Readiness for Evaluation

• Assisting programs with: articulation of logic models (visual representations of the theory of
change), identification of stakeholders. and prioritization of stakeholders’ needs
• Conducting needs assessments and evaluability assessments
• Designing evaluation tools and strategies based on best practices and obtaining IRB approvals

Fig. 1  Program evaluation and assessment services before, during, after, and into the future of
educational programs. (Created by authors)

and sustainability of the program into the future. We further suggest that evaluation
is an ethical responsibility for any program claiming to affect outcomes of the
STEAM, STEM, and STEM-cognate workforce. Evaluation can help ensure that
funding is spent wisely, that programs are accountable for their impact on stake-
holders, and that relevant findings are communicated in the peer-reviewed academic
literature.

2.1  Evaluation Use

Without evidence of effectiveness, it can be difficult to publish about, obtain fund-

ing for, or convince various audiences to participate in or support a STEAM pro-
gram. Within the community of STEM and STEAM practitioners, program
consumers and sponsors increasingly demand research and evaluation data of pro-
gram effectiveness. For example, the National Science Foundation typically requires
program evaluation as part of most grant applications for STEM and STEAM pro-
grams and offers evaluation guidance to applicants as to what constitutes credible
evidence for particular research and evaluation designs (U.S.  Department of
Education and U.S. National Science Foundation 2013). Credible findings encour-
age program continuation and expansion over time and can entice desired partici-
pants during recruiting activities. As part of the academic enterprise, programs are
expected to contribute what they discover to the academic research knowledge base.
For this reason, highly skilled evaluators can be valuable partners in crafting such
contributions, whether in the form of conference presentations, peer-reviewed jour-
nal articles, additional proposals, follow-up studies, or other academic products and
services.
Emphasizing Transdisciplinary Prowess in the Evaluation of STEAM Programs 261

Research and theory regarding evaluation use considers the ways stakeholders
use evaluation information and, therefore, how to best maximize the use and value
of evaluation practices and findings (Patton 2008). A practical consideration is
choosing an evaluation configuration that fits the program being evaluated. Typical
configurations are internal evaluation, external evaluation, and metaevaluation.
Different evaluation configurations have different strengths and permit different lev-
els of access to information and stakeholders. In our experience, combinations or
collaborations among these configurations provide the most useful program guid-
ance. Further, evaluation use is highly related to successful interactions between
diverse stakeholders and evaluators, without which evaluation findings are less
likely to be trusted and used. The success of evaluators in engaging with diverse
stakeholders relates to evaluator competencies in collaboration introduced later in
this chapter.

2.2  Program Development and Continuous Improvement

STEM and STEAM education and workforce development programs typically

require evaluation for two distinct purposes: (1) to inform continuous program
improvement and (2) describe program effectiveness. Formative evaluation refers to
the former purpose and focuses on collecting appropriate data to use in a continuous
program improvement cycle. To understand the effects of a program, evaluators
must first determine what the program actually delivered, compared to what was
planned. The construct fidelity of implementation represents the extent to which a
program was delivered as intended. This construct was developed by Jeanne Century
and her colleagues into a framework (Fig. 2) and offers a suite of measurement tools
(Century et al. 2010). By providing formative feedback about implementation on a
regular basis, evaluators assist those who deliver a STEAM program in making
data-informed decisions that can improve program delivery. We have found monthly
conference calls an essential strategy for both monitoring program implementation
of STEM and STEAM programs and for providing formative feedback based on
evaluation data. Surveys or debriefing sessions after program activities, feedback
from site visits, and regular advisory board meetings are also critical opportunities
to discuss program implementation.
Formative evaluation also includes opportunities for the evaluator to engage with
program stakeholders before a STEM or STEAM program is implemented. For
example, evaluators can help stakeholders develop goals and objectives and inform
program design by performing a needs assessment in advance of program develop-
ment (Watkins et al. 2012). An evaluability assessment determines the appropriate-
ness of program evaluation given a program’s theory of change, the availability of
evaluative data, and utility given the views of relevant stakeholders (Davies 2015).
Figure 1 shows formative evaluation opportunities before a program begins, as well
as during implementation. There are distinct benefits to engaging a team of highly
qualified evaluators as early as possible in the program development process.
262 K. Kelly and E. Burr

Construct: Program Implementation

Instrument: Type of Measure:
Fidelity of Suite of 8 Tools
Implementation teacher instructional questionnaire and log,
Framework classroom and school-wide observation
protocols, teacher and school leader interview
(Century, Rudnick, & Freeman, protocols, school leader questionnaire, and
2010) teacher attitude questionnaire

Structural Process or Instructional

Measurable components of components components
program implementation for
targeted stakeholder groups:
Procedural Pedagogical
school leaders, teachers, (such as Exposure, Dosage to program
activities)
(such as quality of teacher facilitation and use
of formative assessment)

and students Educative Student Engagement

(such as content and alignment to (such as engagement with others and
standards) completion of essential activities)

Fig. 2  Measuring program implementation as part of a formative evaluation. (Created by authors)

2.3  Program Effectiveness

In contrast to formative evaluation, a summative evaluation focuses on articulating

the effectiveness or value of a program using meaningful evidence. Program success
is achieved when a STEM or STEAM program does what it claims to do and can
“prove it.” The path to effectiveness begins with articulating the program’s goals
and objectives. A valuable way to frame goals and objectives is by using the attri-
butes of SMART objectives, which are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant,
and time bound (Salabarría-Peña et  al. 2007). Framing these SMART goals and
objectives within a logic model helps stakeholders clarify what they expect to
accomplish and how they will know if in fact they accomplish it (W. K. Kellogg
Foundation 2004). Figure 3 shows the components of a logic model, which traces
program activities to their intended outputs and outcomes based on articulated goals
and SMART objectives. Ideally, stakeholders should engage in an interactive pro-
cess to generate shared understanding and commitment to a common vision.
Evaluators are often critical in facilitating the articulation of program goals, objec-
tives, and logic models.
A summative evaluation explicates the value of a program by credibly measuring
outcomes specified on the logic model. What constitutes meaningful or credible
evidence differs across stakeholders and contexts. For example, a headache remedy
Emphasizing Transdisciplinary Prowess in the Evaluation of STEAM Programs 263

Purpose Outcomes
Inputs Activities Outputs
Justification and Benefits/changes for individuals or
Resources What programs do Direct measureable
intended goals populations during or after participating in
dedicated to or with inputs to fulfill products of program
(program goals and program activities
consumed by goals activities
objectives)
program Example: Example:
Example: Example:
Example: -Teacher Training -Five full days of
Goal: To increase the As a result of workshop training, teacher-
-3 faculty summer workshop summer training per
STEM workforce in related outcomes were:
facilitators -Pre and post teacher
bioinformatics and
-1 teacher workshop surveys -Two to three
genomics in Western
facilitator with tests of workshops offered Immediate Intermediate Impacts
New York.
-1 research content knowledge, each summer for 5 (short-term) (mid-term) (long-term)
SMART objective:
assistant interest, past years from pre to -teachers -teachers
Over 5 years, train 90 post
-GENI-ACT experience, and -Four ½ day refresher maintained continued
high school teachers workshop:
curriculum workshop feedback sessions during each content to use GENI-
in Western New York -increased
platform and -Fall refresher fall semester knowledge ACT after
in one week summer content
developers sessions to support -90 teachers trained and interest project end
workshops with knowledge
-University of implementation -90% teachers in teaching -the
follow up refresher -increased
Buffalo computer -Teachers will completed pre and -70% of established
sessions to lead interest
facilities recruit at least post workshop surveys teachers led pipeline of
student teams in and
-NIH Grant Funding 14 students at their -80% teachers students in teachers is
genome annotation motivation
school for GENI- recruited at least 14 GENI-ACT maintained
projects, with a to teach
ACT activities students modules, in Western
culminating Capstone genomics
Symposium at the attended New York
University of Buffalo. Capstone counties
Symposium

Fig. 3  Components of logic models. The example is for a project funded through the National
Institutes of Health entitled Western New York Genetics in Research and Healthcare Partnership
(Kelly et al. 2018b). (Created by authors)

that makes one feel better when they use it constitutes one type of evidence, but
clinical efficacy data on headache pain established in a double-blind clinical trial is
quite a different type of evidence. The What Works Clearinghouse is a nationally
recognized resource for policy and guidance on methods requirements for credible
evidence in educational research and evaluation (U.S.  Department of Education
2017). While it is neither possible nor necessary to use randomized experiments to
determine the effectiveness of every program, it is critical that stakeholders under-
stand the strengths and limitations of both collected data and subsequent interpreta-
tions based on them. In sum, the value of the program evaluation depends both on
the measurable articulation of the program and the credible measurement of
expected outcomes across stakeholders.
Ideally, a program evaluation considers outcomes across a system of multiple
stakeholders, considering programs in terms of what is delivered to whom, who
provides what, and how they organize themselves to do so. This structure includes
evaluators, too. STEM and STEAM programs often are conceptualized in terms of
a pipeline metaphor (see Hardiman and JohnBull this volume) or, more broadly, as
a learning system. Targeted participants may be anywhere along the educational
continuum, from “pre-K to gray.” Participants are embedded in a system or network
that includes teachers in schools or faculty in universities and expands to commu-
nity, government, and global partners. We have found a nested learning community
model effective in portraying relationships among stakeholders (Fig. 4). Evaluation
must not only measure outcomes across this diverse group of stakeholders, but must
be sensitive to their unique information needs (Golder et al. 2005), a theme we will
take up shortly.
264 K. Kelly and E. Burr

The Average
Joe or Judy

Academic
Literature

Program Evaluation
Community

Government and Non-

government Policy and
Funding Agencies

Schools/Institutions
Embedded in
Districts/Systems
Embedded in States

Participating
Students,
Teachers,
Mentors,
Administrators

Fig. 4  A nested learning community model for STEAM programs. (Created by authors)

3  Transdisciplinary Knowledge, Skills, and Processes

Thus far, we have focused about equally on STEM and STEAM programs in terms
of the value, purposes, and principles of program evaluation. While their similarities
are a useful starting point, by definition, STEAM programs emphasize not only
disciplinary but also transdisciplinary knowledge, skills, and processes – a range of
knowledge and skills broader than traditionally considered in STEM fields.
Transdisciplinary refers to knowledge and skills “beyond a specific discipline.” For
clarity, Fig. 5 distinguishes among multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary models (see
discussion by Evans 2014). Transdisciplinarity adds another dimension to the nested
learning community model in Fig. 4 – that of intersections among disciplines within
and across layers of the system. Program activities connect these networks to affect
outcomes on involved stakeholders.
Tied to the need for transdisciplinary skills, STEAM program activities are often
framed around projects, products, or performances that require transdisciplinary
expertise. This has been dubbed project- or problem-based learning (PBL) and is a
departure from traditional STEM instruction (see Gary Ubben this volume-a, this
volume-b). Ghanbari (2015) explains that PBLs emphasize experiential and inquiry-­
based learning, whereby participants engage in authentic and relevant learning
opportunities demanding transdisciplinary solutions. Further, there is an opportu-
nity for sociocultural development as participants tackle problems with political,
Emphasizing Transdisciplinary Prowess in the Evaluation of STEAM Programs 265

Disciplinary Multidisciplinary Interdisciplinary Transdisciplinary

Research that focuses on one Multiple disciplines work to Multiple disciplines work Transdisciplinary
discipline or subject of study solve a problem, with each together, with the result that work transcends traditional
only (such as biology, discipline contributing a piece the disciplines integrate their disciplinary boundaries,
computer science, electrical in an additive fashion. knowledge in a way that involving knowledge and skills
engineering, graphic design, changes the original that benefit all disciplines,
algebra) disciplines into something typically focused on
new. addressing complex real-world
issues.

Fig. 5  Distinguishing the terms disciplinary, multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisci-

plinary. (Created by authors)

economic, and social-justice implications. After all, the goal behind many STEAM
efforts is to help develop both a highly trained technical workforce and a responsi-
ble citizenry, prepared to tackle the grand challenges or wicked problems of the
future in a socially and morally responsible manner!
Transdisciplinary knowledge and skills are the hallmark of STEAM programs,
so STEAM program evaluations must focus on their measurement. Transdisciplinary
skills have been referred to in many ways, but one framework we consider particu-
larly relevant is from the P21 STEM partnership, emphasizing what they termed
twenty-first-century skills: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and cre-
ativity (Partnership for 21st Century Learning 2007). The four Cs form core and
connected domains that bridge disciplinary boundaries and represent knowledge
and skills to include in the evaluation of STEAM programs (see Sanabria and
Romero this volume). National accreditation of STEM programs by AdvancED
includes the use of the four Cs in establishing STEM practices in every classroom
(AdvancED 2018). Using the four Cs as an organizing framework, we define and
demonstrate what we refer to as the measurement of “transdisciplinary prowess”
among STEAM program stakeholders (Fig. 6).

4  Evidence of Transdisciplinary Prowess

In the previous section, we introduced the range of transdisciplinary knowledge and

skills emphasized in STEAM programs. In this section, we introduce methods for
measuring “transdisciplinary prowess.” Evaluators translate a STEAM program
logic model into a set of measurable variables (also called benchmarks, indicators,
or metrics) that can be used in formative and summative evaluations. A classic term
for this in social science research is “operationalizing” a construct. Recall, for
266 K. Kelly and E. Burr

• Cultural Competence Tool References

Communication • Communication Quality
Qualitative (Fig 8a)
Artifact (Fig 8b)

Tool References
• Mentoring Qualitative (Fig 8a)
Collaboration • Social and Professional Networking Artifact (Fig 8b)
Network (Fig 8c)
• Strategic Partnership Management COP (Fig 14)

• Critical Thinking Tool References

Critical Thinking • Metacognition Qualitative (Fig 8a)
Artifact (Fig 8b)
• Engagement COP (Fig 14)

Tool References
• Innovative Thinking
Creativity • Transdisciplinary Orientation
Qualitative (Fig 8a)
Artifact (Fig 8b)
Network (Fig 8c)

COP = Community of Practice

Fig. 6  Summary of four Cs and constructs of transdisciplinary prowess discussed in this chapter,
matched to relevant analytic tools defined in Fig. 8 and Fig. 14. (Created by authors)

example, how implementation fidelity was operationalized by  Century et  al.
(2010) in a framework accompanied by a suite of instruments (Fig. 2). Salabarría-­
Peña et al. (2007) articulated how measures based on a logic model could be devel-
oped, and Fig.  3 shows an example in which program goals were translated to
specific measures in a high school bioinformatics and genomics research pro-
gram  (Kelly et  al. 2018b), based on guidance by Brown (2005). Converging and
complementary measures strengthen findings by providing both consistent and
unique evidence supporting program outcomes. Metrics can be derived from mul-
tiple disciplines in addition to STEM, such as art, design, economics, and business.
For each of the four Cs, we selected representative constructs, measurement
strategies, and metrics used in STEAM programs (Fig. 6). We also introduce ana-
lytical and technological tools for measuring transdisciplinary prowess in tool
boxes, highlighting evolving technological abilities to measure and characterize
complex systems of information and interaction. To be successful, evaluators of
STEAM programs must have a certain degree of transdisciplinary prowess to opti-
mize the value and use of evaluation evidence in STEAM programs. We conclude
our discussion of each “C” by considering associated program evaluation standards
set forth by the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation, JCSEE
(Yarbrough et al. 2011), as well as guiding principles for evaluators and evaluator
competencies set forth by the American Evaluation Association, AEA (AEA 2018a;
AEA 2018b). The JCSEE is a coalition of major professional associations in the
Emphasizing Transdisciplinary Prowess in the Evaluation of STEAM Programs 267

United States and Canada concerned with evaluation quality (see JCSEE 2018,
[Link] AEA is the leading organization of evaluators in America
and offers a continuing source of guidance in the field of evaluation (see  AEA
2018c, [Link]

4.1  Communication

The first C is communication. Communication is transmission of information from

a sender to a receiver. Therefore, the characteristics of both the sender and the
receiver influence transmission and receipt of a communication. Many STEM and
STEAM programs articulate the goal of reaching a diverse range of participants and
stakeholders. For example, the National Science Foundation (2008) considers
broadening participation in STEM to be a core organizational value, and this value
is highly emphasized across their funding portfolio as one of two merit criteria
applied to every reviewed proposal. Further, while every educational program has a
range of stakeholders, STEAM programs are characterized by audiences spanning
disciplinary boundaries and include parents, students, teachers, faculty, researchers,
community members, government, and industry representatives. The perspectives
of various stakeholders reflect complex disciplinary, cultural, and social influences
and identities. Understanding and responding to the unique needs of these receivers
requires cultural competence and communication quality, reflecting the ability of
the sender to understand the unique needs of diverse receivers as well as employ a
flexible repertoire of appropriate strategies for conveying the desired message
(Fig. 6).
Measures of cultural competence consider the awareness and sensitivity of
stakeholders to the perspectives of others with diverse disciplinary, cultural, and
social identities as well as the lived experience of diverse stakeholders. Cultural
competence can be assessed as a feature of persons or systems or understood by
measuring dispositions, behaviors, perceptions, and lived experiences. Diller and
Moule (2005) introduced five cultural competence skill areas, which can serve as a
basis for developing or selecting instruments (Fig. 7). While there are examples of
instruments, such as the Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory (CCAI; see Kelley
and Meyers 1995, Fig. 7), often in-depth interviews or observations are needed to
fully appreciate and articulate the experiences of underrepresented groups. For
open-ended data such as these, qualitative analysis tools can help users process and
make sense of complex communications, even multimedia (Fig. 8a). Measurement
of cultural competence can be uncomfortable and confronting, which can produce
bias in responses if stakeholders don’t feel they can be honest (Byrd & Olivieri,
2014). Best practices to limit bias include interacting with stakeholders in a
­culturally competent manner and being explicit about the protections in place to
keep respondent data private and secure.
Understanding the unique needs of diverse receivers is one part of successful
communication in STEAM programs; another part is the ability to craft and deliver
268 K. Kelly and E. Burr

Fig. 7  Measuring cultural competence. (Created by authors)

(a) Qualitative Analysis (b) Artifact Analysis and (c) Network Analysis and Big
Determines the themes or patterns Validated Instruments Data Analytics
present in open-ended narrative Constructs are operationalized as Data about human actions and
responses, multimedia, even social scores on customized checklists, scientific phenomena are more
media. There is a wide range of rubrics, and rating scales. Measures accessible than ever. "Big Data"
analytic choices from word counts may rely on participant self-report, analytics use large databases and
(presented in a word cloud) to or the judgment of raters who score computational tools to answer
detailed analytics of coded discourse responses. Similar methods can be research questions.
using qualitative theory. applied to artifacts of practice or Readily available tools like social
performance assessments. network analysis can model the flow
of interaction and information in a
Characteristics of network using analysis tools like Gephi
high quality measures or NodeXL to visualize and analyze
Validity means that scores networks (see example below).
Geospatial mapping and satellite data
measure what they are supposed to.
can track phenomena across space
An example of validity: a score on a
and time.
Word cloud created from text of Declaration of
Independence, using [Link]
transdisciplinary orientation scale
correlates with the number of
NVIVO interdisciplinary journal articles.
[Link]
A widely-used application that allows
the storage, manipulation,
Reliability means that scores are
categorization, and visualization of repeatable across instances and
complex relationships across a variety raters. Extensive rater training and
of formats of textual and multimedia data gathered in pilot studies may be
data in one platform. necessary.

Fig. 8  Qualitative (a), artifact (b), and network analysis (c) tools. (Created by authors)
Emphasizing Transdisciplinary Prowess in the Evaluation of STEAM Programs 269

effective messages to these diverse receivers. Communication quality reflects the

ability to successfully communicate ideas across audiences, media formats, and
communication technologies, critical in a society where only the most effective
messages are heard. The format and content of messages must be tailored to the
information needs of particular stakeholders, or crafted to the context in which they
are to be delivered. Artifact-based assessments operationalize communication qual-
ity through rubrics or structured rating criteria appropriate to the context and can be
employed by expert(s), with peers, and even as a self-assessment. For example,
Evergreen and Emery (2016) released a validated Data Visualization Checklist, use-
ful as a guide for developing high-impact data visualizations (Fig. 9). While the use
of checklists, rubrics, and structured rating scales offer a standard way of assessing
artifacts of practice in educational programs, they require evidence of validity and
reliability across instances and raters, which may require extensive rater training
and corroborating data gathered in pilot studies (Fig. 8b).
Evaluators must consider their own cultural competence and the communication
quality of their messages, because an evaluation is effective only to the extent it
provides diverse stakeholders with formative and summative evaluation findings
they consider useful. AEA specifically addresses the cultural competence of evalu-
ators in its guiding principles (AEA 2018b) as well as in a public statement (AEA
2011) which highlights seven core concepts relevant to ensuring cultural compe-
tence in evaluation (Fig. 10). In regard to communication quality, Fig. 10 also iden-
tifies evaluator competencies related to how findings are communicated (AEA

Construct: Communication Quality

Type of Measure: Checklist
Instrument:
Targeted Stakeholders:
Data Visualization Designed originally for evaluators but revised to
Checklist be useful to anyone who wants to make effective
visualizations or rate the quality of someone
(Evergreen & Emery, 2016) else’s visualizations.

The instrument has demonstrated

validity and reliability. Text Lines Arrangement
6 4 5
Guidelines for visualization elements guidelines guidelines
guidelines
are rated on a 3 point scale (or n/a):
0 = guideline not met
Visualization
1 = partially met Anatomy Color Overall
Chart 5 4
2 = fully met (labeled guidelines guidelines
sample)
90% or better indicates high quality.

Fig. 9  Measuring communication quality. (Created by authors)

270 K. Kelly and E. Burr

Cultural Competence Communicaon Quality

(from AEA, 2011) (from AEA, 2018a)
Core Concepts of Cultural Core Evaluator Competencies Related
Competence in Evaluation to Communication Quality

1. Cultural competence is a stance taken Methodology

• 2.13: Justifies evaluation findings/results
toward culture. and conclusions, judging merit worth, and
value as appropriate.
2. Evaluations cannot be culture free. • 2.14: Communicates evaluation
findings/results, including strengths and
3. Competence in one context is no limitations
assurance of competence in another. • 2.15: Articulates evidence-based judgments
and recommendations for use.
4. Effective and ethical use of evaluation Management
requires respecting different • 4.6: Documents evaluation processes and
worldviews. products
• 4.9: Uses appropriate technology and other
5. Cultural competence fosters tools to support and manage the evaluation
trustworthy understanding. • 4.10: Communicates evaluation processes
and results in appropriate, timely, and
effective ways.
6. Theories are not value neutral.
Interpersonal
7. Cultural privilege can create and • 5.6: Communicates in meaningful ways
perpetuate inequities in power. throughout the evaluation (written, verbal,
visual).

Fig. 10  Communication in evaluators: cultural competence and communication quality. (Created
by authors)

2018a). As mentioned previously, recent trends in technology, research, and evalu-

ation have focused specifically on the development of effective visualizations, bor-
rowing from graphic and media arts (Evergreen and Emery 2016) and style
guidelines in social science research (American Psychological Association 2009).
Clearly, cultural competence and communication quality are core evaluator
competencies.

4.2  Collaboration

The second transdisciplinary domain is collaboration. While communication is part

of collaboration, collaboration focuses on the transactional processes within and
among stakeholder groups that influence the effectiveness of STEAM programs.
Program activities are planned interactions among stakeholders designed to achieve
particular outcomes. Thus, these interactions among stakeholders represent the
actual program being delivered. Success of STEAM programs, therefore, resides in
Emphasizing Transdisciplinary Prowess in the Evaluation of STEAM Programs 271

effective transactional relationships. In this way, STEAM programs both cultivate

and require skills in teamwork, and the need for collaboration skills is prioritized in
most modern learning and work contexts. Our discussion focuses on three con-
structs of collaboration: mentoring, social and professional networks, and strate-
gic partnership management (Fig. 6).
While mentoring is not specific to STEAM programs, this aspect of collabora-
tion is one of the most influential relationships that students have, because advisers
are gatekeepers to future success through letters of recommendation, publication
opportunities, monetary support, and engagement in professional networks.
Academic mentoring and advising resembles an apprenticeship model, whereby
students study under senior instructors. Given that both mentors and mentees are
stakeholders in a STEAM program, evaluation should focus on the impact of men-
toring training and practices on both mentors and mentees. For example, we have
used a mentoring scale created and later validated by Michael Fleming and col-
leagues (Fleming et al. 2013) that was used to study a nationwide mentoring train-
ing program (Pfund et al. 2014; Fig. 11). Mentoring can be particularly critical for
students from underrepresented groups, who typically experience higher levels of
isolation and barriers to success than other students. The Institute for African-­
American Mentoring in Computing Sciences released guidelines in 2018 for suc-
cessfully mentoring Black/African-American doctoral students in these programs,
which can serve as the basis for a mentoring assessment (Computing Research
Association 2018, Fig. 11).

Construct: Mentoring
The iAAMCS Guidelines for Successfully Mentoring Competency Assessment
Mentoring Black/African-American Fleming et al., 2013
Computing Sciences PhD Validated then used in a nationwide mentoring
Computing Research Association, 2018 training program (Pfund et al., 2014)

Mentoring Guidelines Mentoring Subscales

While written for the computing sciences, these Can be used for mentors and mentees
guidelines are useful for any program focusing on
underrepresented postsecondary populations.

Effecve Align Assess

Foster Communicaon Understanding
Recruit Establish Expectaons
research
strategically community culture

Promote Address
Provide Promote Foster
Provide Professional Diversity
holisc professional independence
funding development Development
advising

Fig. 11  Measuring mentoring. (Created by authors)

272 K. Kelly and E. Burr

In most aspects of life, success is about both what and who you know and inter-
act with. Particularly with the advance of technology, the study of social and pro-
fessional networking has proven to be of increasing value in understanding
transactional phenomena among entities, be they people, organizations, or nations
(Taylor et al. 2014). With an emphasis on collaboration and team-based learning in
STEAM programs and the often-complex system of stakeholders engaged in them,
tracing the interactions among stakeholders over time and space using social net-
work analysis (SNA) and geospatial mapping tools describes how the parts of a
STEAM program work together to create the whole experience. Tools to model and
depict the functioning of networks have been evolving rapidly (Fig. 8c), and Fig. 12
depicts a framework of measures based on network analysis and big data used to
evaluate the postsecondary outcomes of a high school research program in bioinfor-
matics and genomics (Kelly et al. 2018b).
Many STEAM programs are partnerships or operate as a group of diverse institu-
tions, departments, or persons cooperating to administer and implement the planned
program. Collaboration theory provides a foundation for measuring collaboration in
partnerships (Gajda 2004), and data can be used to improve strategic partnership
management over time. Woodland and Hutton (2012) developed the Collaboration
Evaluation and Improvement Framework (CEIF) and associated measurement tools
to characterize the level of collaboration in a partnership, organized around predict-
able stages of collaboration development. Figure 13 illustrates this framework, and
we have used the CEIF to evaluate a multidisciplinary, cross-institutional postsec-
ondary partnership, emphasizing the efficiency of using the collected data for part-
nership management, for evaluation, and for research on collaboration (Kelly
et al. 2018a).

People Space Time

Postsecondary • Number of students per • Map the first and • Map chronological
Outcomes of teacher and school, subsequent colleges of pathways across high
High School including numbers all students in real schools and colleges
recruited, randomized, distance by school name • Examine metrics such
Students
retained and type of institution as number of
• Demographics and • Examine the density and institutions enrolled,
Kelly et al., 2018b
graduation data distribution of time from high school
• Postsecondary postsecondary graduation to 1st
Outcomes from institution attendance enrollment, time to 1st
National Student by Region of the U.S., by degree, Total time
Clearinghouse (date of Area Health Education enrolled,
report, dates of Center, by County, and • Changes in Major,
enrollment and by High School. Degree Program, Type
completion for each • Examine the influence of of Institution, Name of
school, location, type of school type, distance School
institution, and major) from high school

Fig. 12  Measuring postsecondary outcomes of a high school research program in bioinformatics
and genomics using network analysis and access to big data  (Kelly et  al. 2018b). (Created by
authors)
Emphasizing Transdisciplinary Prowess in the Evaluation of STEAM Programs 273

Construct: Strategic Partnership Management

Instrument: Levels of Integration Rubric (LOIR) is used for assessing
levels of collaboration in five domains:
Collaboration
Evaluation and Communication, Leadership, Members,
Decision-making, and Resources
Improvement
Leaders rate each domain of collaboration on a rubric with
Framework (CEIF) 5 anchor points labeled A-E with E representing the most
(Woodland & Hutton, 2012) well-developed collaboration.

The CEIF was designed for Operationalizing the construct of collaboration

evaluators to work with
strategic partnerships to both Identifying and mapping communities of practice
assess and improve
collaboration. The CEIF has five Monitoring stage(s) of development
entry points for evaluation,
shown here. Instruments are Assessing levels of integration (see LOIR rubric)
available, such as the LOIR
rubric to assess levels of
Assessing cycles of inquiry
collaboration integration.

Fig. 13  Measuring strategic partnership management. (Created by authors)

Evaluators must have the knowledge and skills to measure but also to engage
successfully in collaboration with program staff and other stakeholders to support
the delivery of a program in STEAM communities of practice. Examples of evalua-
tors engaging collaboratively with stakeholders have been mentioned throughout
this chapter, such as facilitating logic model development, providing formative
feedback, and establishing rapport and trust to encourage evaluation use. There are
evaluator competencies related to successful collaboration with stakeholders, across
five domains of competence  – professional practice, methodology, context, plan-
ning and management, and interpersonal. Figure  14 itemizes these competencies
(AEA 2018a). To improve professional practice, it is important that evaluators
engage regularly with the greater STEAM evaluation community of practice as
learners and leaders (Fig. 14). There is a clear benefit to collaboration skills in eval-
uators to facilitate partnership functioning as well as their own professional learning
and growth.

4.3  Critical Thinking

Critical thinking, the third C, reflects the use of higher-level intellectual skills,
including problem-solving, logic and reasoning, data analysis and interpretation,
the development of expertise, and the transfer of skills across domains. The latter is
274 K. Kelly and E. Burr

Core Evaluator Competencies Related

Communies of Pracce
to Collaboraon (from AEA, 2018a)
STEM/STEAM/CS
Interpersonal
Evaluaon
• 5.2: Values and fosters constructive
interpersonal relations foundational for
professional practice and evaluation use.
• 5.3: Uses appropriate social skills to build
trust and enhance interaction for evaluation
practice. hps://[Link]/research-reviews-
• 5.8: Collaborates and engages in teamwork. evaluaons/stem-evaluaon/evaluaon-
[Link] (Oak Ridge Associated
• 5.9: Negotiates decisions for evaluation Universies, 2019)
practice. hp://[Link]/stemeducaonand
• 5.10: Addresses conflicts constructively. training/home (AEA, 2018d)

In 2012, a collaboration of evaluators set out to

Context develop and connect online resource centers and
• 3.3: Addresses systems and complexity with virtual communities of practice focused on STEM,
the context STEAM, and Computer Science evaluation. The goal is
• 3.4: Identifies and engages diverse to connect and expand existing capacities and curated
users/stakeholders throughout the evaluation collections of evaluation resources and tools through
process. an active community of practice. Such communities of
• 3.8: Develops and facilitates shared practice afford opportunities for reflective practice
understanding of the program and its and sharing of evaluation tools and strategies with
evaluation in context. both evaluators and non-evaluators in the STEAM
pipeline. In pursuing this work, it became evident that
Professional Pracce
establishing these connections has great potential to
• 1.7: Engages in ongoing professional
transform the field by connecting across people and
development to extend personal learning,
organizations that otherwise might not have learned
growth, and connections.
of each other’s very similar work.

Fig. 14  Collaboration competencies and communities of practice for evaluators. (Created by
authors)

conceptually related to generating transdisciplinary solutions. A familiar way to

think about the range of intellectual skills is to consider Bloom’s Taxonomy, which
organizes intellectual skills into a hierarchy from low to high levels of cognitive
challenge (Bloom et al. 1956). The words in the description of critical thinking in
the first sentence of this paragraph map to more complex, cognitively challenging
intellectual skills in the taxonomy (Fig. 15). Research on learning also suggests that
metacognitive thinking facilitates learning, and we employ metacognitive strate-
gies and measurements in program evaluations whenever possible. Lastly, we will
examine the gatekeeper to all thinking – engagement in a learning activity (Fig. 6).
Measuring critical thinking (CT) requires making the invisible process of think-
ing both observable and measurable. CT can be measured as performance in the
context of a specific STEAM activity or more as an aptitude (designed tests of rea-
soning and analysis). The emphasis on PBLs and therefore on contextually appro-
priate and relevant artifacts of performance favors the former measurement strategy.
The tools discussed earlier in this chapter are applicable for measuring CT in con-
text, including qualitative analysis of open-ended narrative (Fig.  8a) and artifact
analysis (Fig. 8b). Models of thinking such as mind maps or other expressions of
conceptual knowledge can be used to access or represent thinking, for which public
Emphasizing Transdisciplinary Prowess in the Evaluation of STEAM Programs 275

Evaluate
Synthesis Judge
Critique
Analyze Organize
Formulate
Revise
Validate
Apply Calculate
Compare
Create
Integrate
Measure
Estimate
Understand Employ
Generalize
Summarize
Contrast
Design
Predict
Know Comprehend Relate Diagram
Explain Use Deduce
Identify
Restate Practice
Define
Interpret Utilize
Recognize
Discuss
Tell
Discriminate
Memorize
Repeat

Fig. 15  Power or thinking verbs for levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. (Created by authors)

Construct: Critical Thinking

Type of Measure: Short Essay
Instrument: Questions require students to explore and research real-world
situations, including learning and applying new information to a
Critical Thinking problem
Assessment Test (CAT) Stakeholders:
(Stein, Haynes, Redding, Ennis, Validated on upper division STEM and non-STEM students at six
& Cecil, 2007) major U.S. institutions
Scored by trained faculty raters

Skill Areas of the CAT

Separate facts from inferences. Identify new information needed Analyze and integrate information
for a conclusion. across sources to solve a problem.
Identify inappropriate conclusions. Interpret numerical relationships Recognize how new information
and separate from inferences. may change problem solutions.
Understand limitations of Use math skills to solve a larger Communicate analyses and
correlational data. real-world problem. problem solutions effectively.
Identify evidence to support or Separate relevant from irrelevant Understand complex relationships
contradict a hypothesis. information in a problem. in an unfamiliar domain.

Fig. 16  Measuring critical thinking. (Created by authors)

tools are available as for network analysis (Fig. 8c). Figure 16 provides an example
of an instrument that measures critical thinking using short-answer questions in
response to real-world situations, as well as solving a complex real-world problem
through learning and applying new information (Stein et al. 2007). An important
conclusion is that the measurement of critical thinking involves collecting expres-
sions of critical thinking in sufficient detail to render a reliable judgment of the
intellectual demands of a task. This requires time, resources, and expertise of the
evaluator, as well as time and intellectual demands on participants.
276 K. Kelly and E. Burr

Metacognitive thinking, or the ability to monitor one’s own learning and perfor-
mance, is related to successful learning and task mastery (Bransford et al. 2000).
The use of reflective practices in learning contexts can encourage metacognitive
thinking, such as journaling or open-ended reflection, identifying concepts that one
struggles with (related to self-awareness), predicting or estimating one’s own per-
formance, and reporting confidence in one’s answers (related to self-efficacy). All
stakeholder groups can benefit from reflective practice, be it students, teachers, part-
nership leadership, or program evaluators. Reflective practices can improve pro-
gram outcomes and support a continuous improvement cycle, without which
progress is inefficient and unclear. Participating in communities of practice offers a
forum for engaging in reflective practice (Fig. 14). The important point is not how
to measure metacognition, but rather the importance of engaging all stakeholders in
reflective practice to improve program outcomes.
In today’s world, a vast amount of information competes for stakeholders’ atten-
tion, and the gatekeeper to success for any STEAM program is engagement of the
stakeholders in program activities. Using a mind-mapping approach (Fig. 8c), we
note that the main influences on engagement and successful learning are perceived
value and accessibility (Fig. 17). Access is determined by how successfully learners
can relate new knowledge to knowledge they already possess (Bransford et al. 2000).
While some mediators of engagement are observable, many are accessible only via
self-report using rating scales, written feedback, or interviews (Fig. 8a, b). Regardless
of the specific mediator or measures used, it is important to understand stakeholder
feelings about value and access in order to interpret their engagement in the activity.
Many evaluator competencies are related to the application of critical thinking
skills (AEA 2018a). Evaluators demonstrate critical thinking through their ability to
design, measure, analyze, visualize, and communicate meaningful evaluation find-

Learning is
Successful
Persistence

ENGAGEMENT
Motivation
Interest Confidence
Value Access

Identity Prior Knowledge

Awareness

Opportunity to Learns

Fig. 17  A house of constructs related to successful engagement and positive learning outcomes.
(Created by authors)
Emphasizing Transdisciplinary Prowess in the Evaluation of STEAM Programs 277

Core Evaluator Methodology

Competencies Related to • 2.2 Understands the range of
Crical Thinking methodologies that ground inquiry in
(from AEA, 2018a) evaluation practice.
• 2.6 Frames evaluation questions.
• 2.7 Designs sound, credible, and feasible
Professional Pracce studies that address evaluation purposes
and questions.
• 1.2 Knows and applies evaluation • 2.8 Determines appropriate methods,
foundations that ground and guide including quantitative, qualitative, and
evaluative thinking and professional mixed methods.
practice. • 2.9 Identifies data sources and samples.
• 1.3 Knows and applies multiple • 2.10 Collects data using sound, credible,
evaluation approaches and theories. and feasible procedures.
• 1.4 Uses evidence and logic in making • 2.11 Analyzes data using sound, credible,
evaluative judgments. and feasible procedures.
• 1.6 Articulates personal evaluator • 2.12 Interprets findings/results and draws
conclusions by identifying possible
competence and perspectives, areas for
meanings in context.
growth, and implications for professional
• 2.13 Justifies evaluation findings/results
practice. and conclusions, judging merit, worth, and
value as appropriate.
• 2.16 Conducts informal and formal meta-
evaluations of studies, identifying their
strengths and limitations.

Fig. 18  Critical thinking competencies of evaluators. (Created by authors)

ings using appropriate, valid, and reliable strategies (Fig. 18). Evaluators can both
engage in and encourage reflective practice, and we suggest that evaluators not only
measure the occurrence and impact of metacognitive thinking in a STEAM program
but also facilitate and encourage its use with all stakeholder groups as part of evalu-
ation activities. Reflective practice can drive a continuous improvement cycle based
on evaluation evidence. While facilitating reflective practice as part of evaluation
activities is a value-added service that a skilled evaluator can provide to stakehold-
ers, evaluators must also be willing to apply metacognitive thinking to their own
evaluation practice for best results.

4.4  Creativity

The fourth C reflects the domain of creativity. Creativity is associated with a com-
plex range of knowledge and skills; consider constructs such as aesthetic appeal and
expressive behavior traditionally associated with art. Personal attributes associated
with creative thinking include independent attitudes, divergent thinking, problem-­
278 K. Kelly and E. Burr

finding, incubation, diverse interests, rejection of external controls, high confidence

levels, risk-taking inclinations, and an ability to engage in exploratory work (Gomez
2007). Evaluators can measure creativity by the way an audience behaves in
response to a creation, by the features of the creation, or by the abilities of the maker
to create (Candy and Bilda 2009). We will discuss constructs related to the latter two
of these perspectives. Creative abilities of a maker include not only the opportunity
and capability for self-expression but also the ability to generate innovative think-
ing, leading to unique and surprising creations. Features of a creation are amenable
to appropriate artifact analysis (Fig. 8b). In the context of STEAM programs, we
can also measure attitudes and aptitudes like transdisciplinary orientation as well
as the ability to generate transdisciplinary solutions. In a world where the technolo-
gies and jobs of the near future are unknown today, creativity becomes a very
important intellectual commodity (Fig. 6).
Most pertinent to the present discussion is that creativity is related to constructs
such as innovation, ingenuity, flexibility, adaptability, cleverness, thinking outside
the box, and transdisciplinary – necessary competencies in keeping up with techno-
logical innovation and tackling the grand challenges of our age. The concept of
innovative thinking can be applied to a person, a team, or an organization. While
attitudes and aptitudes related to innovative thinking can be measured using estab-
lished instruments, success metrics hailing from art, business, economics, and engi-
neering can be used to demonstrate and measure creativity as the “best” solution
appropriate for the context and relevant for the stakeholders. In this way, measuring
creativity is similar to measuring critical thinking, because they both interact in
generating transdisciplinary solutions to problems. An example of a STEAM assign-
ment in an elementary science classroom is writing a tanka poem about a celestial
body in the solar system. A tanka poem is similar to a haiku but has two additional
lines. A tanka consists of 5 lines and 31 syllables, with 5 or 7 syllables per line. The
tanka poem assignment contains components of both critical thinking and creativity.
These poems would be appropriate for an artifact analysis.
As the need for transdisciplinary knowledge and skills increases, so does the
need to measure stakeholder aptitude and orientation toward work and associated
scholarship that spans disciplinary boundaries, which is inherently creative and cog-
nitively challenging. Misra et al. (2015) developed a Transdisciplinary Orientation
Scale (TDO) to use with researchers involved in work that spans disciplinary bound-
aries. We have used the TDO with faculty and student stakeholders to measure
changes in dispositions, perceptions, and behaviors related to interdisciplinary work
over the course of a graduate training program (Fig. 19). Other metrics to consider
are related to the extent to which scholarly activity spans disciplinary boundaries,
such as publications in interdisciplinary journals, joint faculty appointments, and
participation in an interdisciplinary research center (Institute of Medicine 2005).
Increased access to reference information in today’s technological age can facilitate
the measurement of scholarly productivity beyond the curriculum vitae, such as
citation analysis (Fig. 8c).
Just as the STEAM workforce must possess creative talent, so must evaluators be
adaptive designers, employ innovative strategies, and embrace emergent technolo-
Emphasizing Transdisciplinary Prowess in the Evaluation of STEAM Programs 279

Construct: Transdisciplinary Orientation (TDO)

Type of measure Instrument

Self-Report Rating The Transdisciplinary Orientation Scale
Scale Misra, Stokols, & Cheng, 2015

Five dimensions of Validity and reliability

transdisciplinary studies revealed positive
Targeted Stakeholders: orientation in 2 scales relationship of TDO to:
Can be used to look at • Values, Prior work on
changes in TDO for VAB Attitudes, cross-disciplinary
persons or groups Beliefs teams
engaged in research • Conceptual Number of
CSB interdisciplinary
Skills, Behaviors
research articles

Fig. 19  Measuring transdisciplinary orientation. (Created by authors)

gies. Above all, evaluators must be responsive to the diverse contexts of STEAM
programs, able to demonstrate flexibility and adaptability when needed. Some
examples from our own work include developing unique measures of transdisci-
plinary skills and embedding program evaluation within program delivery to
encourage data collection efficiencies and reflective practice. It is also important to
remain abreast of technological innovations and analytic tools for improving the
evidence base. Other examples from our work specifically designed to facilitate
evaluation use include modifying program evaluation strategies on an ongoing basis
in response to stakeholder feedback and refining report structures and data visual-
izations to promote evaluation use, program improvement, and dissemination across
diverse STEAM audiences.

5  In Conclusion

5.1  T
 he Value-Added of Program Evaluation for STEM
and STEAM Programs

Program evaluation is a vital component of STEM and STEAM programs: it pro-

vides guidance for evidenced-based decisions before, during, after a STEAM pro-
gram. Without evidence of effectiveness, it becomes difficult to publish about,
obtain funding for, or convince various audiences to participate in or support a
280 K. Kelly and E. Burr

STEAM program. STEM and STEAM education and workforce development pro-
grams typically require formative evaluation to foster a continuous improvement
cycle and summative evaluation to measure the value or effectiveness of a program.
Evaluation ideally considers outcomes across a system of multiple stakeholders,
considering programs as both what is delivered as well as who provides them and
how they organize themselves to do so.

5.2  B
 alanced Measurement of Disciplinary
and Transdisciplinary Knowledge, Skills, and Processes

While evaluation should include a balance in measurement, emphasizing both dis-

ciplinary and transdisciplinary knowledge, skills, and processes in a STEAM pro-
gram, we focus on transdisciplinary skills as most relevant to the evaluation of
STEAM programs. Cast in a 4 Cs framework, we reviewed selected constructs and
measurement strategies for communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and
creativity (Fig. 6). We also introduced analytical and technological tools for mea-
suring transdisciplinary prowess in Fig. 8a–8c and Fig. 14, highlighting evolving
technological capabilities for measuring and characterizing complex systems of
information and interaction.

5.3  The Transdisciplinary Prowess of the Evaluator

Evaluators must possess the transdisciplinary prowess to optimize the value and use
of evaluation evidence across multiple stakeholders in STEAM programs. An evalu-
ation is effective when it provides diverse stakeholders with findings they consider
useful, requiring both cultural competence and communication quality from the
evaluator(s). Evaluators must collaborate successfully across STEAM communities
of practice, from working with program staff to support the delivery of a program to
the greater STEAM evaluation community of practice. Evaluators demonstrate crit-
ical thinking through their ability to select and apply evaluation strategies that are
appropriate, valid, informative, reflective, and useful to stakeholders. Incorporating
reflective practices with all stakeholders around evaluation findings encourages pro-
fessional learning, promotes evaluation use, and can help drive a continuous
improvement cycle. Just as the STEAM workforce must have creative talent to
thrive in an unknown future, so must evaluators be adaptive designers, employ inno-
vative strategies, and embrace emergent technologies.
We conclude that the secret to STEAM success lies in the “transdisciplinary
prowess” of its stakeholders, including participants, program staff, and evaluators.
Emphasizing Transdisciplinary Prowess in the Evaluation of STEAM Programs 281

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Kimberle Kelly  is a senior evaluation specialist within the

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Erin Burr  is a senior evaluation specialist and section manager

for assessment and evaluation within the Scientific Assessment
and Workforce Development Program at Oak Ridge Associated
Universities (ORAU). She holds BS and MS degrees in
Psychology, a PhD in Educational Psychology and Research with
a concentration in Evaluation and Assessment and completed a
postdoctoral fellowship at ORAU with the Oak Ridge Institute for
Science and Education (ORISE). Erin’s professional interests
include STEM workforce development and education evaluation
in K–20 settings, strategic needs assessment in national laborato-
ries and laboratory systems, impact evaluations/long-term follow-
up studies, measurement of evaluation use and influence, and
applied experimental psychology.
STEM Education and the Theft of Futures
of Our Youth: Some Questions
and Challenges for Educators

Sophia (Sun Kyung) Jeong, Deborah J. Tippins, Kimberly Haverkos,

Mel Kutner, Shakhnoza Kayumova, and Stacey Britton

1  Introduction

The headlines of a recent issue of the National Science Teacher Association’s

“NSTA Reports” highlight a middle school STEAM project in the article “Off to the
STEM races.” In this project, the students use interdisciplinary knowledge of phys-
ics, engineering, and mathematics to construct miniature racecars propelled by a
carbon dioxide cartridge. In the broadest sense, discourse surrounding the meaning
of STEM/STEAM education, both in theory and practice, suggests interdisciplinary
dialogue or interaction between two or more disciplines, as the above example illus-
trates. While STEAM education typically emphasizes the forging of connections
between science, mathematics, engineering, technology, and the arts, connections
clearly can occur across any discipline, in the intersections between disciplines or
even by transcending what are traditionally perceived as disciplinary boundaries.
Thus, it comes as no surprise when scholars such as Bennington (1999) and Moran
(2010) discuss the ambiguity surrounding the term “interdisciplinary,” which has
led to the emergence of other terms such as “post-disciplinary,” “anti-disciplinary,”

S. (Sun Kyung) Jeong · D. J. Tippins (*) · M. Kutner

University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
e-mail: sj33678@[Link]; dtippins@[Link]; mrk19412@[Link]
K. Haverkos
Thomas More University, Crestview Hills, KY, USA
e-mail: haverkk@[Link]
S. Kayumova
University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, MA, USA
e-mail: skayumova@[Link]
S. Britton
University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA, USA
e-mail: sbritton@[Link]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 285

A. J. Stewart et al. (eds.), Converting STEM into STEAM Programs,
Environmental Discourses in Science Education 5,
[Link]
286 S. (Sun Kyung) Jeong et al.

and “transdisciplinary,” to name a few. Other scholars have argued that if we are
going to teach in interdisciplinary ways, then we must  develop interdisciplinary
assessments. While an in-depth theoretical examination of the relationship between
disciplines is beyond the scope of this chapter, we recognize that, as authors, our
own disciplinary histories (i.e., biology, geology, psychology, anthropology, liter-
acy, genetics) influence what we perceive as significant questions and challenges for
STEM/STEAM education. We ask readers to keep this in mind in our attempt to
generate productive conversations around the questions and challenges we pose to
extend thinking about STEM education. We begin the conversation by first posing
some questions at the heart of the STEM education for all metaphor prevalent in the
recent STEM/STEAM discourse. We ask:

1.1  Q
 uestion # 1: What Are the Challenges of STEM
Education for All Within Contemporary Reform Efforts?

STEM education and participating in STEM knowledge production is highly impor-

tant for all, and especially for low-income and racially diverse communities tradi-
tionally minoritized from participating in science education, since STEM knowledge
might offer a unique position from which to understand, combat, and transform
inequities and sociopolitical circumstances (Weinstein 2008). However, studies in
science and mathematics education have shown that while policy and education
documents promoting STEM education claim prosperity for all, in reality, “only
those with the most wealth have received any financial benefit from these endeav-
ors” (Basile and Lopez 2015, p. 521). Similar disparities in STEM education in the
United States have been documented for decades. The overwhelming evidence
demonstrates persistent inequalities faced by underrepresented groups from tradi-
tionally minoritized communities (e.g., girls, students from low-income back-
grounds, students of color, Hispanics, African-Americans, and English language
learners) from the outset of their STEM educational experiences to choosing and
staying in their career paths (Basil and Murray 2015).
It is a grave problem in the US context given that most of the “spatial patterns in
environmental injustice and inequality” are also concentrated in areas where “low-­
income nonwhite young children” live and go to school (Clark et al. 2014). Thus,
the underrepresentation of people and youth from these communities in STEM edu-
cation perpetuates injustices not only in economic terms but also by constraining
minoritized communities from the involvement in critical issues directly impacting
their lives, work, health, and social and emotional conditions. As Basil and Murray
(2015) argue,
Especially in our segregated society, it can be difficult for a collective of white middle-class
scientists to understand the lives, experiences, needs, and desires of peoples of color. …that
this inability to see might in turn lead to scientific knowledge or applications of that scien-
tific knowledge that are unjust … when we do not include diverse voices in the project of
generating scientific knowledge and deciding how we ought to put that knowledge to use in
STEM Education and the Theft of Futures of Our Youth: Some Questions… 287

our society. It is difficult to imagine, for example, that low-income and Latino communities
of central and southern California, plagued by birth defects, would be home to the only
toxic waste sites in the state if scientists originating from those communities weren’t
involved in the scientific community. (p. 257)

To this end, Dana Zeidler (2014) argues that before jumping on the bandwagon of
the current STEM education movement, it is important to pose contextualized ques-
tions like “What does an educative experience embedded in STEM entail for the
daily lives of citizens?” “How does that experience play out throughout life-long
development?” (p. 12). We find Zeidler’s (2014) questions and remarks to be rele-
vant also to the scholarship that centers on issues of equity and considers sociopo-
litical problems within science education as embedded and interconnected to the
STEM education reform documents. This perspective also allows us to acknowl-
edge that science- and STEM-related knowledge and skills are recognized as impor-
tant, both in terms of keeping up and progressing in a knowledge economy and
making informed decisions related to STEM. Arguably, however, mere access to
knowledge and skills is not enough to tackle the pernicious sociopolitical and envi-
ronmental problems which disproportionally impact many communities marginal-
ized  by environmental injustices, socioeconomic disparity, access to affordable
healthcare, and all the ways science and technological changes impact daily lives,
work conditions, health, and psychology of people.
In the recent water crisis in Flint, Michigan, for example, over a hundred thou-
sand people were exposed to lead in drinking water. Many of those that were
exposed were children, and the majority of those exposed were people of color liv-
ing in low-socioeconomic areas (Butler et  al. 2016). Indeed, recent research has
shown that the social disproportionality often observed in economically depressed
areas coincides with pollution disproportionalities: the very highest polluters tend to
be located in the very poorest areas (Collins et al. 2016). These events once again
remind us of the importance of place-based science education and empowering citi-
zen scientists who can observe, identify, and act on local environmental issues. For
instance, some science educators have used ecojustice pedagogy, an emerging
framework, which helps teachers and students to approach environmental issues
with place-orientated consciousness, emphasizing a culturally situated knowledge
of ecology and thus helping students to position themselves as “stewards” of the
natural world (Bricker et al. 2015, p. 85). This is one example of an expansive view
of science education that extends existing techno-narratives of science, existing
solely in an economic context, to one that seeks to understand science principles in
a more systems-based approach.
In light of our fundamental concerns regarding the positioning of low-income
and racially diverse youth within STEM initiatives, we reflect more specifically on
the extent to which STEM/STEAM efforts may continue to reify traditional gender
roles. We situate our discussion of this question within Kim’s story of her experi-
ences with a STEM camp for middle and high school girls as we ponder:
288 S. (Sun Kyung) Jeong et al.

1.2  Q
 uestion # 2: In What Ways Does STEM/STEAM
Continue to Reify Traditional Gender Roles?

For the past three years, Haverkos and several colleagues joined together to run a
week-long STEM camp for middle school and early high school girls. We have a
passion to share our love of STEM with these young women and hopefully show
them how our love of the processes and ideas and nature of STEM can lead to a life
(semi) fulfilled. We care about their interests and their futures and push to both be
role models and help craft them into role models—we encourage returning to camp
as a mentor in the following years and several girls have done so. We are not all
STEM professionals. While two of us are in the field of STEM as an ecologist and
a geneticist, the other two come at STEM from different perspectives—one as a
philosopher and one as a teacher-educator. Our varied and diverse backgrounds help
us share different possibilities and different avenues of moving into and through
STEM. We bring varied adults in to speak with the girls about their experiences in
STEM and love of their field.
Each day of this camp ties into one of the STEM ideas—science, technology,
engineering, and math—and the week wraps up with the girls presenting what
they’ve learned to an audience of parents, siblings, grandparents, and professors.
We attempt to incorporate a little of the arts by engaging in imaginative and creative
activities that link to what we are learning about (origami, designing and screen-­
printing T-shirts, and journaling). But woven into the week also is conversation
around what it means to be a woman in STEM, and a girl interested in
STEM.  Discussions around stereotypes and messaging in STEM and the girls’
broader worlds allow them to share their own stories around issues of gender1 and
how it plays out in their love for STEM and, at this point, schooling. For all the
strides forward that some claim STEM provides and the consistent push for more
STEM engagement, we, the adults running the camp, often find ourselves frustrated
at how little progress has been made and how far we have yet to go. But we will
continue—to provide a space for girls who love STEM, to provide a space to explore
their identity in relation to STEM, and to provide a supportive and caring environ-
ment as these girls make decisions about their futures and STEM.
Culturally, awareness for bringing girls, and women more broadly, into the
STEM fields has been a bright spot. Success for the movie Hidden Figures, the
GoldieBlox toys (Loudenback 2016), and more gender-neutral or science-themed
clothing for girls specifically, and children generally (Bologna 2015), has brought
STEM and women and girls to the cultural forefront. Women now make up almost
half of all incoming medical students (a drop from the early 2000s when women
made up more than half of all applicants, AAMC 2016), and shows like The Big
Bang Theory provide some cultural awareness around women in STEM.  Twitter

1
 The authors recognize the complex and thorough work being done around broader issues of gen-
der, both in and out of the STEM fields, but space prohibits the depth of conversation necessary to
do justice to this broader conversation.
STEM Education and the Theft of Futures of Our Youth: Some Questions… 289

hashtags #ILookLikeAnEngineer and #distractinglysexy add to that momentum

with real-world representations of women in STEM fields. But the backlash for the
“nontraditional” roles of women in STEM fields and studies has agitated us cultur-
ally. We see examples such as “trolling” online to death threats for engaging against
misogyny in computer science (see [Link] for sto-
ries of misogyny in the tech world), Malala’s fight for the right to an education, and
rampant anti-intellectualism (found in such STEM areas as anti-vaccine move-
ments, climate deniers, and evolution deniers). Society is working hard to reconcile
women in STEM (and perhaps educated women more generally) with their tradi-
tional cultural roles. In Geek Chic, Lorna Jowett (2007) states, “Both real and fic-
tional female scientists continue to struggle against ingrained ideas about what
women are and what science is” (p. 45). Her study of female scientists on television
shows just how ingrained those images are and how women portrayed as scientists
often have to give up part of their identity as female to be considered a successful
scientist. Caroline Merchant (1980) reminds us that this tension was built into the
very fabric of the scientific revolution and enlightenment (i.e., STEM) thinking:
…sexual politics helped to structure the nature of the empirical method that would produce
a new form of knowledge and a new ideology of objectivity seemingly devoid of cultural
and political assumptions. (p. 172)

The role of women in society, and the ways in which they live out their connections
to the fields within STEM, is tightly bound to traditional expectations of caregiving,
motherhood, and femininity—traits that are considered in opposition to scientific
thinking, the base of STEM work, objectivity, and reason. While gains have been
made in many STEM fields, statistics suggest that we still have a long way to go
toward equity in the STEM fields. The National Girls Collaborative Project’s track-
ing of these issues shows that while women make up half the total of US college
educated workforce, within science and engineering, that number is 29% (NGC
Project 2017). Looking through a lens of intersectionality,2 that number is even
more discouraging, even though movement has been made to increase diverse rep-
resentation in STEM fields (NGC Project 2017). While the STEM fields represent
huge and diverse fields of work, the National Science Board’s 2016 report suggests
that engineering has the most to make up, with women only constituting 15% of the
engineering workforce (National Science Board 2016). In a society that is calling
for more engagement in STEM fields, engineering in particular, work around equity
has a lot of ground to make up.
If we look more closely at the fields where equity is being chased, a theme
arises—caring. Research suggests that the idea of caring is a tool for getting girls
(and hence women) interested in STEM fields (Capobianco and Yu 2014). By
exploiting their “traditional nature” for caring, we can increase the number of
women in STEM fields. In the description for our summer STEM camp described
earlier, we thoroughly engage that theme. The title of our camp is STEM Girls:
Transforming the World, and we seek out daily connections to real-world community-­

2
 Again, the authors recognize the work being done in intersectionality, but space prohibits an in-
depth discussion here.
290 S. (Sun Kyung) Jeong et al.

based problems and solutions that the girls might care about. Together we brain-
storm issues that the girls are concerned about and have deep discussions about how
STEM can work to solve them. The girls engage in discussions of identity and
oppression alongside water quality and sustainability—but all within the framework
of caring for others, finding solutions for others that they care for. This is not to sug-
gest that caring is a “bad” thing, but rather to understand that in pulling on this
thread, we walk a fine line between reifying traditional gender roles and challenging
the status quo in STEM fields. In our own work for the camp, we walk that line.
Looking within the medical fields, we can see this played out through time. The
culturally expected roles of nurses (i.e., caring female) versus doctors (i.e., rational
male) and the gender breakdown are keys to this point (Anthony, 2004), but perhaps
more telling is the recent research that looked at patient success and how women
doctors had higher success rates with their patients (Tsugawa et al. 2017). On the
surface, this sounds like a fabulous result; scratch more deeply, and we can see that
it also represents a pushback against women in STEM. While the authors suggest
they don’t know why female physicians have lower mortality rates, previous
research suggests some possibilities: the (slightly) longer amount of time that
female physicians spent with their patients and better communication (Reese 2011).
However, the institutionalized system of medicine works against a structure that
would allow physicians to spend that time with their patients and actually penalizes
them for that time. In a world of insurance-driven constraints, time with patient is
reduced to maximize profit (Dugdale et  al. 1999; Rabin 2014). Physicians who
spend more time with their patients lose status within the institution—they are reim-
bursed at a lower rate and are not seen as effective as their counterparts.
It is vitally important for women’s voices, ideas, and knowledges to be a part of
STEM conversations, careers, and future directions. But it is also vitally important
that women’s ideas, voices, and knowledges be legitimated. There has been an
uptake in the number of women pursuing STEM careers in college. However, the
number of women who stay in STEM positions as long-term careers slips drasti-
cally, with more than half leaving their careers after 10 years (Hill et al. 2010, p.19).
Biology, where one of the biggest increases can be found, is also the most explicitly
interrelated—a space where caring is often culturally apparent. When embedded in
a “caring” science—such as biology, medicine, or ecology—this works to keep
women in marginalized positions in relation to the larger scope of science and
STEM. Traits deemed necessary to be successful in STEM are often linked to mas-
culine performances (i.e., rational, objective, reasoned). For performances of caring
to be linked to feminine performances, women and their fields are distanced from
STEM; their knowledge and fields are delegitimized. By removing scientific legiti-
macy from caring and placing it in the realm of traditional women’s work, an activ-
ity culturally normalized as female, women are not allowed into science through
caring because these performances of and traits of caring are considered unnatural
science performances. So, the activities that are culturally normalized for women,
caring activities, are the same activities that are made unnatural in science. This
feminization of performances of caring also works to keep issues around ­community
and relationships marginalized in larger societal discourses. Climate change deniers
STEM Education and the Theft of Futures of Our Youth: Some Questions… 291

aren’t simply denying the science—they are reducing care of the environment to a
feminized space that is delegitimated scientifically because it is women’s work.
Women are doing caring work because commonsense tells them to. It is “natural”
for women to care; it is a “natural” part of feminine nurturing and cultural expecta-
tions. This allows for the legitimacy of science to be upheld at the expense of both
women and caring. The women do not challenge science’s meaning-making or ritu-
als or norms because they cannot access the science through their performances of
caring. A recent article on men and service in academia suggests white men need to
learn to say yes to service rather than women and academics of color learning to say
no (Portillo 2017). Do we need to think of caring in STEM this way, as well? Do we
need men in STEM to see the importance of caring? Or does this feed into the anti-
intellectualism that is plaguing the country? Does this move STEM discourses into
a dangerous area of disbelief by the public, by feminizing STEM knowledge?
Perhaps the focus may need to shift toward another question: Not just why is there
a lack of women and girls in STEM, but rather, are women and girls rejecting the
community that STEM has created and normalized in society as “natural” just
because it continues to reify traditional gender roles and expectations and delegiti-
mize their experiences and knowledges?
Many scientists, philosophers, and educators are collaborating at the borders of
biology, social sciences, and the humanities. However, the techno-narratives we
noted earlier may be constraining not only the participation of marginalized com-
munities and girls in STEM but also opportunities for all youth to make knowledge-
able decisions and act on issues with relevance to local place-based issues. Biologist
Donna Haraway moved into cultural studies and history of science because of her
concern for the driving force of techno-science and its claims to neutrality and
objectivity. Haraway (1997) argues for repositioning science as a situated form of
knowledge. She emphasizes the importance of recognizing that science, while it
may have the appearance of isolated disciplinary silos, is always part of place-based
narratives and knowledges. Our concern is that many of the place-based narratives
we might draw on to encourage the participation of all youth in STEM are missing
from the current STEM rhetoric, leading us to ask:

1.3  Q
 uestion # 3: How Can We Conceptualize STEM/STEAM
While Maintaining a Focus on Community, Local
Knowledge, and a Connection to Place?

The underlying components of human nature are to consider self and immediate
needs—such as safety, space, and nourishment. In his review of literature, Krug
(2012) poses a challenge that preservice teachers be developed in ways that allow a
sustainable mindset to be exemplified in their future classrooms. However, most
STEM/STEAM initiatives rarely integrate issues of sustainability; therein lies a
­disfunction within the current drive for STEM/STEAM education policy. With cur-
rent initiatives in STEM/STEAM focusing more on societal advancement and per-
292 S. (Sun Kyung) Jeong et al.

sonal economic growth, how can we alter this approach in such a way as to promote
a central consideration for justice while understanding the need for progress within
place? More importantly, how can we, as educators, change the focus from progress
for anthropocentric gain to progress that promotes equity for all? What does that
STEM/STEAM look like?

1.3.1  Critical Pedagogy

According to Krzesni (2014), one presumed goal of STEM/STEAM educators

should be to function within a critical pedagogy—what you teach and how you
perceive/portray value in that instruction is essential for developing learners who
are better able to encounter the world and act justly. While the ultimate argument
made by Zeidler (2016) is for STEM to be addressed through socioscientific issues,
his point that learning should be contextualized and include embedded cultural
components is critically important when considering how STEM might be framed.
Zeidler also suggests that STEM alone, as an educational construct, is incomplete.
Rather, pedagogical approaches to STEM/STEAM must include a focus on devel-
oping global citizens who are intrinsically aware of their space and the role of and
value inherent within all players. Commensurate with Aikenhead’s (2006) human-
istic approach to science education, learners must be encouraged to seek out oppor-
tunities to encounter the natural world in ways that help them make connections to
what they learn within a context of the community and place in which they live.

1.3.2  Transdisciplinary Instruction

Instruction in STEM/STEAM could be considered an aspect of social practice,

meaning that communication should be encouraged through collaborative decision-­
making and dialogue related to scientific praxis. Guyotte et al. (2014) suggest that
the typical STEM focus on engineering and more technical components of learning
should integrate the arts as a way to encourage social practice and awareness of
these connections. They emphasize the possibility of transdisciplinarity through the
researchers’ mindful approach of having three different disciplines grouped. Groups
of students from arts, landscape design, and engineering worked together in solving
problems using content knowledge unique to their discipline and collaborative dia-
logue with group members who varied in perspective and background. This approach
suggests that STEAM as a social practice could be especially beneficial for science
educators: multiple players working together involve developing and communicat-
ing knowledge that encourages equity and a consideration for place and communi-
ties. Instruction might include real-world challenges that may not be immediately
solvable but encourage students to make meaning of their experiences through the
application of multiple disciplines. This approach to instruction might support
STEM Education and the Theft of Futures of Our Youth: Some Questions… 293

community-­driven science that aligns with place-based instruction and quite possi-
bly encourage a deeper connection to the environment and awareness for social
issues that are affected by the decisions of the group. Quigley and Herro (2016)
conducted research with 21 middle school classroom teachers using a STEAM-­
based approach, with a strong emphasis on problem-based instruction. Their
research revealed that one of the main challenges to transdisciplinary instruction
was a question of how to conduct assessments that aligned with teaching approaches
rather than evaluations that directly correlated to the state-mandated multiple-choice
assessments. The teachers in that study felt driven to use traditional approaches to
testing, even though they realized these were a direct contradiction to the collabora-
tive approaches to learning. Unfortunately, the challenge of state testing is not new
and is not one that is easily solvable. However, a transdisciplinary approach allows
students to engage in multiple content areas while developing a greater level of
social awareness and personal responsibility for learning.

1.3.3  Student Ownership

In their recent STEM research, Quigley and Herro (2016) also found that student
choice and relevance were key components to student interest and success. With
technology serving as an essential component of instruction in the middle school
classrooms where they conducted their research, the teachers in the study moved
beyond self-developed PowerPoints®, allowing for student-created blogs and web-
sites that fostered greater ownership and possibly greater content knowledge.
Teachers’ discussion regarding this work led to the suggestion that others who plan
similar types of work should consider the scope, content authenticity, and the stu-
dents’ sense of ownership and responsibility to learn what is needed in order to be
successful. With this in mind, STEAM has the potential to encourage collaboration
and problem-solving skills that are necessary to function as part of a community.
Students have opportunities to develop connections to place when they experience
teaching that encourages problem-solving as it relates to issues which are familiar,
either as a result of locality or basic interest. While there are many other approaches
for considering place, local knowledge, and community in science instruction, these
aspects are essential for a sustainable future that promotes health and well-being for
all. We must move past an anthropocentric lifestyle to a more ecocentric/concentric
purpose that improves the planet, rather than simply strengthening our economy or
defense.
This broader conceptualization of the purpose of STEM brings to the forefront a
question of the role of ethics and morals within STEM education. With the recogni-
tion that hidden forces of race, class, and gender shape an individual’s educational
experiences, we believe that it is extremely important for educators to ask:
294 S. (Sun Kyung) Jeong et al.

1.4  Q
 uestion # 4: What Role Should Ethics and Morals Have
in STEM Education? The Missing “E” and “M” Pieces
in STEM Education

Judith A.  Ramaley, the former director of the National Science Foundation’s
Education and Human Resources Division, coined the term STEM (an acronym for
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) in 2001. Since then, among the
different stakeholders such as various agencies in government, education, and
research, as well as within different contexts, the definitions of STEM education
have varied. Generally, conceptualizations of STEM and what STEM entails fall
into one of two domains: education or occupation (Koonce et al. 2011). According
to Koonce et al. (2011), from an occupational perspective, jobs related to the four
disciplines in STEM are important because they exert more influence on economic
growth and development than jobs categorized under non-STEM fields. An impor-
tant priority of science education reform, and by proxy STEM education, is to pro-
mote scientific literacy for all (Fowler et  al. 2009). Though different in the
conceptualizations of STEM, various stakeholders seem to agree that STEM educa-
tion is important in producing scientists, engineers, and workers within technically
advanced fields. This outcome helps maintain the economic competitiveness of the
United States in the global market.
There is a long history of efforts to improve science and mathematics education
in the United States documented in reports such as the following: (1) Science for All
Americans (American Association for the Advancement of Science 1989), (2) No
Child Left Behind (U.S.  Department of Education 2001), (3) Answering the
Challenge of a Changing World (U.S. Department of Education 2006), (4) Rising
Above the Gathering Storm (Committee on Science 2007), and (5) Race to the Top
(U.S. Department of Education 2015). The discourse characterizing these reports
reflects support for neoliberal ideology with respect to STEM education. For exam-
ple, the National Academies’ report on Rising Above the Gathering Storm empha-
sizes the importance of focusing on developing STEM skills to ensure the “future
prosperity of the United States.” Similarly, educational researchers and scholars
have claimed that mastery of science and mathematics subjects is key in college
success and retention, economic growth and development, national security and
innovation, as well as the US competitiveness in the global market (Breiner
et al. 2012).
Notably among these reports, Answering the Challenge of a Changing World
underscores that education is critical to innovation and improving “America’s finan-
cial security” as well as national security (U.S.  Department of Education 2006).
This report, along with others, emphasizes the importance of developing scientific
literacy, because improving science and mathematics education for all students is
key to sustaining American quality and way of life. However, none of these reports
mention the importance of ethics and morals and the role of values with respect to
STEM education. Tuana (2007) states that “the absence of moral literacy is a glaring
omission from our national efforts to strengthen education” and that to fully answer
STEM Education and the Theft of Futures of Our Youth: Some Questions… 295

“the challenge of a changing world, we cannot ignore the essential role of moral
literacy in our children’s education” (p. 365). In this section, we explore the role of
ethics, morals, and values in STEM education and we propose that ethical and moral
dimensions should be considered an important aspect of STEM education for our
youth in the twenty-first century.
The call to encompass ethical and moral dimensions as part of fostering scientific
literacy for our youth is not new. However, the extent of the discourse regarding the
potential role of ethics, morals, and values in STEM education is underwhelming
when compared to the broader scope of discourse in STEM/STEAM/STREAM/
STEMM education. Thus, the topic of ethical and moral dimensions with respect to
STEM education is an important one to revisit. We suggest that scientific literacy
encompasses the ability to “negotiate and make decisions regarding complex social
issues with theoretical and/or conceptual links to science” (Fowler et  al. 2009,
p. 279). Along the same vein, to prepare for the challenges of a changing world in
the twenty-first century, scholars have argued that students should learn important
skills such as “adaptability, complex communication, social skills, nonroutine
problem-­solving, self-management, and systems thinking to compete in the modern
economy” (Bybee 2010, p. 996). Alongside this growing challenge, socioscientific
issues have begun to garner the attention of science education researchers and teach-
ers, as “socioscientific issues provide situations where teachers and students need to
analyze complex issues associated with ethical, political, and social dilemmas”
(Mueller and Zeidler 2010, p. 105). Science is a social process, and scientific knowl-
edge is formulated within particular social contexts, so compartmentalizing science
as separate from ethics, morals, and values would be impossible in the context of
socioscientific issues. Thus, an argument follows that “socioscientific decision-­
making occupies a seminal space in scientific literacy and attention to morality and
ethics must be included in the science curriculum” (Sadler 2004, p.  39). Sadler
(2004) further argues that one’s inability to “successfully utilize any of these three
aptitudes will significantly hamper one’s ability to make judgments regarding socio-
scientific issues and by extension limit scientific literacy” (p. 42). Similarly, Fowler
et al. (2009) explicitly address moral aspects of issues using socioscientific issues-­
based science teaching. In this approach, they found that regular exposure to socio-
scientific issues promoted students’ development of moral sensitivity that was
context dependent. Thus, Fowler et al. (2009) drew similar conclusions: that moral
considerations are critical to the negotiation of socioscientific issues. Tuana (2007)
conceptualized basic components of moral literacy to include ethics sensitivity,
ethical reasoning skills, and moral imagination. Tuana makes a similar argument—
that moral literacy should be developed under the guidance of an experienced
teacher who is well versed in moral subject matter. Tuana posits that only an inte-
grated approach to developing all three components can lead to moral literacy.
We agree with the scholars who call for emphasizing the importance of ethical
and moral dimensions in today’s landscape of promoting STEM education and fos-
tering scientific literacy for our youth. We also agree that our youth must learn to
negotiate and make decisions when faced with complex, social issues that are intri-
cately linked to science. However, we take a moment to take up a critical stance on
296 S. (Sun Kyung) Jeong et al.

the means by which we might achieve a goal of heightening various aspects of ethi-
cal and moral dimensions in STEM education (i.e., moral sensitivity, moral literacy).
As noted previously, conceptualizations of STEM education and scientific liter-
acy differ in different contexts for various stakeholders. Even though the long-­
standing goal of science education is to promote scientific literacy, the meanings of
the term remain ambiguous (Sadler 2004). If one were to follow the recommenda-
tions of Tuana (2007), there are challenges to the development of moral literacy
which integrate all of the three components. First, secondary science teachers lack
suitable material for including ethical and moral aspects of science in their teaching
(Reiss 1999). Second, materials suitable for training and preparing teachers do not
adequately address issues of morality and ethics in science (Sadler 2004). In this
regard, we echo certain aspects of Reiss’ (1999) arguments against teaching ethics
as part of the domain of science: that is, science and ethics occupy separate spheres
of knowledge. “Science teachers are generally educated in science, not in moral
philosophy. It is therefore unrealistic and unfair to expect them to teach ethics”
(Reiss 1999, p. 119). To explicitly teach, develop, and foster moral literacy as part
of scientific literacy adds to the conundrum of the ambiguity of scientific literacy by
further broadening the scope and meanings of the term. Further, to teach ethics and
promote moral sensitivity, as well as develop moral literacy, scholars argue that the
teacher must be trained and well versed in moral subject matter. This is an addi-
tional challenge that science teachers today face in light of the notion that STEM
education is an integrated curriculum of four (or more) disciplines. In the context of
STEM education, science teachers are often expected to teach the separate disci-
plines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics as one cohesive unit,
which requires deep understanding of all four subjects (Breiner et al. 2012). How
the next generation of science teachers can be prepared to become experts in four
disciplines or even more in order to effectively teach STEM as a cohesive entity
remains to be seen and is a continuing challenge for science teachers.
Despite these challenges, science cannot be divorced from values, and thus, we
critically evaluate the aims of highlighting ethical and moral considerations in sci-
ence education. Reiss (1999) provides four recommendations:
First, teaching ethics in science might heighten the ethical sensitivity of participants.
Second, teaching ethics in science might increase the ethical knowledge of students.
Third, teaching ethics in science might improve the ethical judgments of students.
Fourth, teaching ethics in science might make students better people in the sense of making
them more virtuous or otherwise more likely to implement normatively right choices.
(pp. 123–124)
These goals are important, especially in today’s landscape of STEM education
propelled by neoliberal ideology. However, these aims cannot be all equally met by
a single teacher, or by a single teaching method. These goals would certainly be
another challenge that teachers must overcome in terms of developing their own
familiarity and expertise in moral subject matter. Coupled with these challenges,
our next question is precisely “the question of how, if ethics is to be taught in sci-
ence, it should be” (Reiss 1999, p. 117). To answer this question, we want to return
to one of Fowler et  al.’s (2009) findings that students’ development of moral
STEM Education and the Theft of Futures of Our Youth: Some Questions… 297

s­ ensitivity was context dependent, which helped them understand the direct impact
of socioscientific issues on humans and society. This finding supports similar find-
ings by other scholars, such as Zeidler et al. (2005), where science became more
meaningful to students when placed in a context where students could understand
how science affected technology and how technology, in turn, directed society.
In light of these accounts, instead of creating another knowledge domain such as
moral literacy that teachers must master in order to teach students ethics, we suggest
that science educators and teachers create teachable moments to hold dialogues
about ethical and moral considerations in science, as well as guide students to
develop their own value judgments with respect to science. An account of such dia-
logue is offered in Jeong et al.’s (2017) A story of chicks, science fairs and the ethics
of students’ biomedical research. The case narrative in Jeong et al.’s (2017) chapter
demonstrates a meaningful conversation between a science educator and a high
school student about the student’s science fair experiment conducted on prema-
turely born chicks to test the effect of alcohol and the projected implications on
human pregnancy. The intention of the science educator was to encourage the stu-
dent to explore and engage in independent questioning of her own science experi-
ment with respect to ethics, morals, and values. The student in this case was
encouraged by her teacher to conduct the experiment on chicks; the student, who
was intelligent and articulate, showed initiative and diligence in carrying out the
experiment to yield significant results. As one can see from this example, fostering
value judgments in students can be challenging; however, it is feasible to achieve.
First, as supported from the findings of other research, developing value judgments
needs to occur in a context that is meaningful for the student. When the student
(Jenna) in this case was guided to think about the direct impact with respect to
human babies, she came to a realization on her own about the potential ethical con-
siderations of dosing chicks with alcohol. Second, asking a student non-leading
questions so that he/she can independently think about the issues of ethics, morals,
and values is important. In this case, for example, the science teacher educator never
explicitly mentioned or used the terms ethics, morals, or values. Yet, she facilitated
dialogue with the student by asking questions that allowed Jenna to be able to think
for herself about the implications of the experiment that neither she nor her teacher
had considered, which were ethical and moral considerations of science. As seen in
the conduct of Jenna’s high school teacher who suggested the original experiment
characterized by the quest for “right answers,” it is easy to suggest an answer to
what was supposed to be an inquiry-oriented science fair project. What is perhaps
more important about eliciting these critical questions in conversations with stu-
dents is that it is equally as easy to allude to a solution or an answer to an ethical or
moral issue in science during these discussions. However, teachers can avoid these
pitfalls by encouraging independent thinking on issues involving ethics and morals,
without judgment.
We argue that ethical and moral considerations should be brought to the forefront
of the STEM education discourse. However, we propose a way to do so without
putting additional burden on science teachers to have specialized knowledge or
understanding of moral subject matter. We recommend having meaningful
298 S. (Sun Kyung) Jeong et al.

c­ onversations with students within the appropriate context that matters to them and
their lives and facilitating critical questions that will help them come to their inde-
pendent value judgments and conclusions about issues of ethics and morals in
science.
From a postmodern perspective, the questions we ask are often more important
than the products or answers. The questions we pose in this chapter are intended to
be divergent rather than convergent—they do not require right or wrong answers.
Nevertheless, the landscape of STEM education reflects an underlying neoliberal
ideology. As Foucault reminds us, there is no field of knowledge that is not also
imbricated in (4) forces of power, but also that knowledge/power constructions are
not in and of themselves morally charged—it’s how they are used. Including arts
into STEM curricular programs and philosophies should be considered by examin-
ing what types of knowledges and ways of being it explicitly and implicitly legiti-
mizes. “Understanding STEM through a discursive lens points toward the play of
power in the current education policy environment and the possibility that what
would appear on the surface to be an opening for the promotion of scientific, math-
ematical, and technological knowledge may, in fact, constitute a form of closure”
(Ellison and Allen 2016). In the following question, we explore the ways that STEM
is imbricated in neoliberal discourses, and to what extent the shift to STEAM educa-
tion represents a continuation or departure from neoliberalism by raising the follow-
ing question:

1.5  Q
 uestion # 5: What Is Neoliberalism and Why Is It
Relevant to STEM/STEAM Education?

The liberalism of neoliberalism refers to the economic liberalism that holds it is the
role of the government to protect individual citizens’ right to engage free market
choices. Neoliberalism refers to political and social perspectives that have become
more expansive since the 1980s when we saw economic ideals increasingly encroach
political and social spheres. One example is the argument that government should
withdraw from funding public projects that promote the public welfare and instead
reduce taxes so individuals have the freedom to individually purchase services from
private corporations. Another defining aspect of neoliberalism is idealizing the mar-
ket values of cost-benefit analyses and efficiency across our private and social lives,
usually working hand in hand with technological advances. The focus of individual
efficiency is usually presented hand in hand with the government withdrawal from
providing social services. For example, in a time where public and private higher
education costs are skyrocketing because of reduction in tax revenue and aversion
to regulatory practices, we see a rise in “flexible” online learning opportunities so
that people can work and go to school at the same time. Mobile applications that
collect and track data on our habits and health that can be used to make recommen-
dations on how to change our behavior are another example of neoliberalism at
STEM Education and the Theft of Futures of Our Youth: Some Questions… 299

work. Again, we can see correlates in education in data-driven instruction and

scripted curriculum programs.
The STEM movement in education has been critiqued as a neoliberal education
initiative that emphasizes the production of future capitalist producers and consum-
ers rather than critical thinkers prepared to engage in civil democratic institutions.
Bencze et al. (2018) reviewed “websites, curriculum policy and instructional mate-
rials, STEM education brochures, publications about revelation research, etc.” and
found neoliberal capitalism was “perhaps the – driving force determining much of
STEM education” (pp.  70–71). The rationale for arguing for STEM education is
founded in the idea that American students are falling behind global peers in profi-
ciency in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, which is disastrous
because it would put the United States at a competitive disadvantage in the global
marketplace. Or, as Zeidler (2016) puts it, there is “laser-like focus on technocratic
issues embedded in the language of STEM initiatives” (p. 14). Granted, the techno-
logical and scientific breakthroughs that are the goals of STEM education are not
overtly, purely profit driven. Advances in health, medicine and energy technology
are embedded in humanitarian as well as economic ideals. Moreover, STEM propo-
nents argue that they are taking a pragmatic, even social-justice-oriented approach
to ensuring that the next generation is well prepared for global realities.
However, a deeper investigation of these arguments for STEM education has
found that they are largely spurious. The claim that there is a skills gap for American
students (versus specific differences in scores on standardized tests) came from a
group of chief executive officers in US companies, in the Closing America’s Skills
Gap report; this report also blamed the K–12 education system for the gap (Sharma
2016). However, research indicates that “this crisis exists only on the pages of
reports and position papers emanating from groups and organizations connected
with big business” (Capelli 2015 and Salzman et al. 2013, as cited by Sharma 2016,
p. 44). Further, Ellison and Allen (2016) reviewed extensive labor and wage reports
and projects that show a decrease in value of STEM jobs due to a decreased need of
workers, along with increased output of those with STEM training and the number
of overqualified workers who have to take jobs outside of their fields. A critical
examination of STEM initiatives through this lens could contend that the benefac-
tors of this shift are corporations that can choose to pay lower wages and can capi-
talize on the results of pushing an educational system specifically tailored to create
the most cost-effective worker.
Another general critique of STEM education is that the economic instrumental-
ism of STEM risks erasing the particular social and cultural contexts of science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics individually. “On moving from science
to STEM, technical fields are linked into a mutually reinforcing and referential
sphere, and critically, science is unlinked from issues of history, sociology, and eth-
ics” (Weinstein 2016, p. 238). The idea of STEAM itself can be considered as a
response to STEM’s intellectual flattening of disciplines. As a proponent of socio-
scientific practices, Zeidler (2016) argued that “a focus on STEM sans ‘Arts’ neces-
sarily excludes important areas that inform and contextualize science by grounding
them in sociocultural contexts” where “arts” are defined broadly by social sciences
300 S. (Sun Kyung) Jeong et al.

and humanities (p. 17). For educators who value the studies of humanities and the
liberal arts, the expansion of STEM to STEAM could be heralded as a move that
could rescue STEM. The potentiality of this scenario rests on what is being under-
stood by “arts.”

1.5.1  What Is STEAM Art?

At face value, including the “A” with S-T-E-M appears to indicate that the arts as a
content area is going to be held at the same level with and become a part of the study
of the interaction between science, technology, engineering, and math. However, a
review of STEAM-focused educational resources reveals that art does not refer to
the subject matter or content of what is taught, but rather how it is taught. A corner-
stone of STEAM education is project-based learning and arts integration that allows
students to express their knowledge of STEM topics through visual, dance, or per-
formative arts. The Kennedy Center—an organization one would think would put
primacy on the study and lifting up of art for understanding and appreciating art for
its own sake—has an extensive arts-integration program which defines arts integra-
tion as “an approach to teaching in which students construct and demonstrate under-
standing through an art form” ([Link]
how-to/series/arts-integration/arts-integration). To the extent that art content is
incorporated, its focus is on engaging students in STEM content or spurring on cre-
ative forces. For example, the website [Link] states that “In this climate of
economic uncertainty, America is once again turning to innovation as the way to
ensure a prosperous future” and that “Art + Design are poised to transform our
economy in the 21st century just as science and technology did in the last century.”
We can see the same strains of neoliberalism tying together the rationale of STEAM
education as that underpinning STEM education, without any signs of fraying. If
anything, it appears that a new “problem” of creativity and innovation has been con-
structed for public education to solve. Moreover, the reduction of “art” to how it can
be used to create and design products elides how the intellectual engagement of
social sciences and humanities can be a critical part of public discourse. It appears
to us that neoliberalism is interested in art only insofar as it can be commodified.

1.5.2  STEAM

Neoliberalism is a concept that we can see enacted out in policy, ideology, and
Foucauldian governmentality, the way that social and cultural discourses are embod-
ied and integrated into individuals’ decision-making processes (Larner 2000).
Including “arts” into STEM may be offered as a surface-level response to the neo-
liberal critiques of STEM education; but it ignores the depth and complexities of
each discipline. A more in-depth analysis of how “arts” is being understood in
STEAM indicates that the linguistic move to add an “A” is not indicative of liberal
arts or humanities. To the extent that art is studied as a subject in STEAM, it appears
STEM Education and the Theft of Futures of Our Youth: Some Questions… 301

to primarily be in service of understanding product design and marketing, in other

words, a “neoliberal appropriation of the arts in STEAM transform art into a corpo-
ratist practice of techno-rational ‘design’” (Weinstein 2016, p. 239).
While student engagement and culturally responsive STEM instruction can be
enriched with arts-based instruction, this is not the equivalency of reintroducing
social sciences, liberal arts and humanities on their own merits. Some proponents of
STEAM education point to the ways that high-stakes testing has squeezed the
opportunities for creative exploration out of schools, but as noted, neoliberalism is
only interested in art insofar as it can be commodified. Those that are invested in the
sociocultural contexts of STEM disciplines should not uncritically or uncondition-
ally embrace STEAM education initiatives.

1.5.3  Some Concluding Thoughts

The questions we have posed in this chapter, and the tensions they reflect, lead us to
conclude that there is an urgent need for an inclusive view of STEM education. This
view extends existing techno-narratives of science, existing solely in an economic
context, to one that seeks to understand science principles in a more systems-based
approach. We recognize that the questions we pose defy easy answers or solutions.
They are questions rooted in an awareness of our own histories, theories, method-
ologies, and subject matter preparation, in particular disciplines. While it may seem
that the long-standing division between science and the humanities remains a resil-
ient obstacle to STEM-STEAM reforms, we are encouraged by the everyday exam-
ples of productive STEM spaces. For example, noted oceanographer and researcher
Samantha Joye has looked to art to better understand the impact of the Deepwater
Horizon oil spill on biodiversity. Likewise, we are not so naïve as to think that the
questions we have posed in this chapter are the only or most important ones. We
concur with Kincheloe et al. (1999) when they state that “knowledge is intimately
tied with asking, not answering, and learning becomes insight into what to ask and
what asking means” (p. 176).

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Sophia (Sun Kyung) Jeong  is a postdoctoral scholar in the

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the
University of Georgia. Her scholarly work draws on actor-net-
work theory to explore ontological complexities of gender and
race by examining socio-material relations in science classrooms.

Deborah J. Tippins  is currently a professor in the Department

of Mathematics and Science Education at the University of
Georgia. Her scholarly work focuses on encouraging meaningful
discourses around environmental justice and sociocultural issues
in science education.

Kimberly Haverkos  is founding dean of the College of

Education and Health Sciences at Thomas More University. She
earned a Bachelor’s degree from Xavier University in Biology
and a Master of Education in Science Education from the
University of Cincinnati. She joined Thomas More’s Education
Department in the fall of 2012 after receiving her doctorate from
Miami University, where her dissertation work explored girls’
attitudes and behaviors around “going green” and science, tech-
nology, engineering, and math (STEM). Her areas of research and
teaching continue to focus on STEM education and cultural stud-
ies. Haverkos also teaches in the graduate and undergraduate pro-
grams in the Education Department.
STEM Education and the Theft of Futures of Our Youth: Some Questions… 305

Mel Kutner  is currently a doctoral student in Educational

Theory and Practice at the University of Georgia. Mel has a
Master of Science degree  in Conflict Analysis and Resolution,
and their research interests include using pre-personal affect the-
ory and queer theory to understand comedy and conflicts in edu-
cation. Pronouns I use: they/them/theirs.

Shakhnoza Kayumova  is currently an assistant professor in the

STEM Education and Teacher Development Department at the
University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Her interdisciplinary
work focuses on the empowerment of ­bilingual/multilingual stu-
dents and girls using equitable STEM practices.

Stacey Britton  is an assistant professor of Science Education at

the University of West Georgia and hosts a monthly science café
in the local community. Her research seeks to connect Ecojustice
Theory within the framework of STEM education in ways that
increase access and understanding of the larger community. When
Stacey is not working on “school-related” items, she enjoys quilt-
ing and spending time in the outdoors.